250 DR. J. J. KAUP'S MONOGRAPH OF THE STRIGID^. 



Subgenus a. Ciccaba, Wagl. 

 Diagn. — Ear-orifice very small, like a Day-Owl, and without operculum. Toes 

 naked and scaled, like Scops. The second wing-feather to the sixth on the exterior web, 

 and the first to the fifth on the interior web emarginated. Bill feeble and projected. 

 Of middling size. 



1. Syrnium huhula, Kp. 



Strix huhula, Lath., Le Vaill. Afr. 41, 44. 

 Surnia huhula, Less. 



Athene , G. R. Gray. 



Strix lineata, Shaw. 



albomarginata, Spix, pi. 10«. 



Diagn. — Black, with numerous white cross-bands. 



Descr. — Veil and chin pure white, or black- and white-spotted. Wings nearly black, 

 with narrow, light, often white bands. Tail with four to six cross-bands. Bill and 

 toes yellow. An old bird figured by Le Vaillant has the wings more white-spotted 

 than banded. Chin and veil black, white-spotted. One specimen in the British 

 Museum has the ground-colour of the lower parts white, with black bands ; tail with 

 six bands. Another has the ground-colour black, with white bands ; the tail has 

 only four bands (Spix's albomarginata) . 



Dimens.— Head 68-72, bill from the gape 31-33, wing 244-262, tail 148-152-162, 

 middle toe without nail 29 mm. long. 



2. Syrnium nudipes. 



Strix nudipes, Daud. 



La Chouette nudipede, Vieill. Am. pi. 16. 



Diagn. — Size of Athene noctua. The greater part of the tarsus without feathers. 



Hab. Porto Rico. 



Descr. — Two examples in the Museum at Paris, one of which is more reddish-brown, 

 and the other more rufous. 



The first has the front dirty-white, with four dark cross-bands. The lorum-feathers 

 also dirty-white, with black shafts reaching beyond the yellow bill. The face and 

 anterior ear -coverts dark, spotted with rufous-yellowishj like S. cayennense. The veil 

 pure white, black-margined, like S. albopunctatum, and reaching to the lorum-feathers. 

 The head-feathers dark brown, on the margins rufous. The back-feathers on both 

 webs with three to four pairs of rusty-yellow points. The margins of the shoulder- 

 coverts with irregular white, black-bounded spots. Some of the coverts on the margin 

 of the wing are similar. The hand-wings are dirty-white, spotted on the external webs. 

 On the inner side the wings are nearly black, and only above the emarginations have 

 narrow white bands not reaching to the shafts. The inner wing-coverts white, with 

 a longitudinal dark stripe in the middle. Tail with red shafts and brownish webs. 



