HTIUGID.E — THE OWLS. H 



ix.< loiiLt as tlio licij;hl nf llit.' liciul, wiili au aiitorior uimivuluui, wliiuii duos nut uxIlmiiI ils 

 lull lelii,'lli : llif two oai's syiiiliii'lrkMl ? 



Tlic spcciHs (if ,SV/7' iiro (listi'il)rtoil over the wliolo worlil, tliiiiiL;li (inly 

 (iiic of llicni is (Mj.sMKiiiolitiUi. This is the ediiiinoii I!ani Owl {S. j/itnunivi, 

 the \y\n\ (if the .n'eiius, whiih is t'oiiml in nearly every iMUtidn (if tlut wurld, 

 ihouuliin tlilVerent reijidns it hiis exiierienc(.'(l nKiditieatioiis which ((iiistilute 

 ;4(j(i,i;niiihiciil niees. The ntlier sjieeies, (if iiKire restricted distiiliutidn, are 

 peculiar Id the trdpical jMirtidns (if the Old Wiirld, chielly Australia and 

 Sdtith Africa. 



Synopsis of the Races of S. flammea. 



S. flammea. Face vaiyiiiir I'loiii |iiiiv white to dflicalo clarcl-lnnwii ; faiial 

 v'm-U: varyiiii,' I'rom pun! white, tlii-()ii}jrli o(.'lii-.ieei)iis and rufdus. tn deep lihuk. 

 Upper parts with tla; leathei's nohraeediis-yellnw liasally; this overlaid, more or 

 less eontiiiiiously, liy a oniyish wash, usually linely iiiotlleil and speckled, with 

 diisUv and while. Priniaries and tail liari'eil transversely, iiion' or less dislinelly. 

 with distant dusky bands, of varialile iiiunlier. Jteiieath, varyinj; from pnri> 

 snowv white to tawny rul'ous, innnaeidate or speekl(Ml. Winir. lt).7n- lii.oO. 



Win--, 10.70- 1 •.'.(!((: tail, 4.S0-r).r)0; (ndnieii, .7o-.S0 ; tarsus. 'J.d.'i ~'J.1.'>; 

 luiddle toe, I'Jo - l.oO. Tail with lour dark hands, and sonielinies a trace 

 of a lil'lli. Ilah. JOurope and Mediterranean rejfiin of Africa . \;\v. Jl d m iii fn .^ 



Wili^', 12..')0- 14.00: tail, 0.70 - 7.r>0 ; euhuen, .00-1.00; tarsus. 2..Jo - 

 3.00. Tail with four dark bands, and souuMiines a trace of a (ifih. ('olois 

 lij,'liter than in vnv. jlunniird. Jfah. Soulhorn North America and Mexico. 



var. ji r II I i n col a . 

 Win,;.', 11.30-13.00; tail, 0.30-5.00; taisus, 2.55-2.0."). Colois of va'-. 

 /liinviiea, but more imiliirni above and mure coarsely speckled Ijelow. Ilah. 

 Central America, from I'iuiama to (iiiatemal.-i .... var. (j u (li f in nhvr 



1 SIrix Jtiiiiiiiii-ii, var. Jliunimui. SIrie Jhiiiiimii, LiNS. S. X. I, !;!;>, 17^)(>, ct .Vl i r.- 

 SruK.Ki.. Orii. Syii. I, liiua, 17iS. Slric aliiii, Seop. Ann. 1st, p. -Jl, 17iiS. — (Isiia.. S. X. 

 21i:!. — l.ATii. — D.Mii. — Ijia". and .Sn.vw. S/ny ijntlnln, |{i;i:u.\i, Vli;;. Dcutscld. p. lOiJ, 

 ISlil. Jliih. Eurojii' and .M'rica. 



^ Strtj\/l(iiiiiiii-i, var. ijiiiilcmala; liiDCW.w. Central Ameriean specimens dlller very aiipri'- 

 liiibly froin lle.xicau and Xorth Ani<riian cxaiiipli's, in bciiy considerably daikir-ciildrcd in 

 till' I'xtrenK! jiliascs of plumafte. Ki^lil of eleven spccinicns convey an iniprcssion nf di liilcd 

 illUVronei' ill tins respect at a mere casual i,dance. 'I'lie extreiiies of iiliniiai,'!' in this scries are as 

 I'ollows : — Harkest (Xo. 4(1, !)(>!, ('lninande},'a, Xicaraf,'ua ; 1". llieksl : The dusky iiKitlliiiL; ol' 

 tlic upjier parts is altoj^etlier darker than in any e.xaniplc IVoin .Mexico m northward, and piv- 

 vail.s, with ^reat unil'oniiity, over the entire .surluco ; the white specks are linear, instead el' 

 roundish. On the primaries and tail, the blackish and oeliraceoiis are ahuul eipial in extent, the 

 latter c(dor rorniiii^ live luuids on the ipiills, and four on the tail. The facial circle is bii'^dit 

 ilark (iraiif^e above the ears, ainl the portion lielow the ears eontiinioas bknk ; the face is rcil- 

 ilish-whitc, strongly tiii;icd with winediiowii, while the sjiot in front of the eye is dccji black. 

 The whole lower parts are deep oranec-oehraceoiis, with nninerous irrc!,'iilar specks of dusky, 

 which |iostcriorly beconie broken or confused into raj;j;ed zijjzajj transM'r.sc iiiottlini,'s, while 

 on tli(! lower tail-coverts they form irrej,'ular transverse bars. Win<;doi inula, '_', 1 :>. Wiiii;, 

 13.(10; tiul, .5.00; culnicii, ..sr, ; tarsus, 2.00; middle t<ie, l..-|0, I,ij;hlcsl (No. 11,2.')2, i, 

 San ,Josi', (Aista h'ica, Auf;. 2:i, ISda ; ,los(' ( '. ZcledoiO : The dark tint above, thou,i,di pic'V- 

 alciit, is a eontinuons wash of grayish, instead of a line mottliiif,' of blacki.-.h ami white ; the 

 white specks are neiuly obsolete. Tlic wings arc siiiierlieially |ilain grayisli, this overlaying the 

 ground-color of oeliraccons-orange ; and have visible spots only on the primaries, near their 



