ASIO. 257 



/". Tarsus longer than middle toe, scantily haired; tail less 

 than half as long as wing, even. 



Micrathene. (Page 266.) 



b y . Tarsus more than twice as long as middle toe, and about half as long as tail. 

 (Wing 6.15-7.50) Speotyto. (Page 265.) 



GENUS ASIO BRISSON. (Page 256, pi. LXXIV., figs. 2, 3.) 



Species. 



Ear-tufts very conspicuous ; upper parts finely mottled or vermiculated with 

 dusky, buffy, and grayish white, the first predominating ; lower parts buffy, 

 overlaid, more or less continuously, with whitish, and marked with ragged, 

 or " herring-bone," stripes of dusky. (Subgenus Asio.} 

 b l . Ends of all the quills normal ; toes feathered ; face ochraceous. 



c 1 . Dusky of upper parts disposed in broad stripes, contrasting more or less 

 conspicuously with the paler ground-color; lower parts ochraceous, 

 conspicuously striped, but not distinctly barred, with dusky. (Size 

 of A. wilsonianus.} Hob. Northern parts of eastern hemisphere. 



A. otus (LiNN.). Long-eared Owl. 1 



c 1 . Dusky of upper parts in form of confused mottling, not contrasting con- 

 spicuously with the paler ground-color ; lower parts whitish (ochra- 

 ceous beneath surface), marked with irregular dusky bars which are 

 much broader than the mesial streaks with which they are conflu- 

 ent ; length 13.00-16.00, wing 11.50-12.00, tail 6.00-6.20, culmen .65, 

 tarsus 1.20-1.25. Nest, usually the deserted one of a crow, heron, 

 magpie, or other bird of similar size. Eggs 3-6, 1.66 X 1.28, ovate 

 or ovoid. Hab. Whole of temperate North America, south to table- 

 lands of Mexico. 



366. A. wilsonianus (LESS.). American Long-eared Owl. 

 6 2 . Ends of longer quills narrow, that of the first almost falcate ; toes naked ; 

 face dusky or with dull grayish prevailing. 



Above dusky, slightly broken by sparse mottling of yellowish white ; 

 lower parts grayish white, coarsely barred and irregularly striped 

 with dusky; wing about 13.00, tail 6.80, culmen .90, tarsus 1.55. 

 Hab. Eastern tropical America, north to eastern Mexico and Cuba. 



A. stygius WAGH,. Stygian Owl. 2 



Ear-tufts rudimentary ; color (above and below) ochraceous or buffy whitish, 

 striped, but not barred, with dark brown. (Subgenus Brachyotus GOULD.) 

 Adult : Ground-color varying (individually) from bright tawny ochraceous 

 to buify white, this relieved by conspicuous stripes of dark brown, those 

 of the lower parts growing gradually narrower posteriorly, and dis- 

 appearing altogether on legs and lower tail-coverts ; wings irregularly 



1 Strix otus LINN., S. N. ed. 10, i. 1758, 92. Asia otus LESS., Man. d'Orn. i. 1828, 116. 

 3 Nyctalops stygius WAGL., Isis, 1832, 1221. Asio stygius STRICKL., Orn. Syn. i. 1855, 207. 



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