400 



TROPICAL AMERICA AND ITS ANIMAIS 



The Striges are also represented by several species of horned owls belonging to 

 the widely distributed genus Asio, as well as by an eagle-owl (Bubo nigrescens) 

 peculiar to Ecuador, and by two North American species, which range respectively 

 as far south as Mexico and Costa Rica. The genus Pulsatrix, with two species, is 



peculiar to the region, and there are 

 likewise representatives of the widely 

 ranging genus Scops. Lophostrix and 

 Psiloscops, each with two species, are 

 other genera restricted to tropical 

 America, while Cicaba, with at least 

 eight species, forms a fourth genus 

 peculiar to the area. There are also 

 representatives of the wood-owls (Syr- 

 nium). In another group the genus 

 Gisella, with one Colombian and one 

 Brazilian species, is solely tropical 

 American ; and the north Acadian owl 

 (Nyctala acadica) of North America 

 ranges as far south as Mexico. The 

 pigmy owls of the European and 

 Asiatic genus Glaucidium are fairly 

 well represented in the area, and the 

 two species of the allied North Ameri- 

 can genus MicropaUas enter Mexico. 

 Finally, there is a representative (Strix 

 contempta) of the cosmopolitan barn- 

 owls in Ecuador. 



Curassows and The game-birds known 



Guans. as curassows and guans 

 form a family (Cracidce) restricted to 

 Central and Southern America. One of 

 the commonest species, whose plumage 

 is dark green above and white beneath, 

 is the Mexican curassow (Crax globi- 

 gera), easily identified by the presence 

 of a large yellow knob at the base of 

 the upper half of the beak. Its range 

 extends from Honduras to western 

 Mexico. Some of these large and hand- 

 some birds are ornamented with head- 

 crests, and in most of them the dark 

 green or blackish plumage shows metallic reflections. There are eleven genera 

 of the family, among which the typical Crax has twelve, Penelope fifteen, and 

 Ortalis nineteen species; the total number of species recognised in 1900 being 

 fifty-nine. These birds may be regarded as occupying in South America the 

 position held in Malaya by the megapodes. 



rURKEY-VULTURE. 



