94 RAPTORES. SCOPS. Owi. 



black and reddish-brown. Back chesnut, sometimes 

 yellowish-brown, with a greyish cast, crossed by fine 

 black zigzag lines. Quills having the outer webs al- 

 ternately barred with white and mottled brown. The 

 second and third quill-feathers the longest ; the inner 

 web of the first and second notched near the tip ; the 

 outer webs of the same slightly sinuated, and that of the 

 first having the points of the barbs serrated, but not re- 

 versed. Tail barred and spotted with black, brown, 

 and white. Tarsi feathered, of an ash-grey colour, 

 speckled with brown ; with the under part of the joint, 

 and a small space below, naked. Toes naked, bluish- 

 grey, with the first joints reticulated, and the anterior 

 ones scutellated. The outer toe capable of being turned 

 backwards. Claws pale yellowish-brown. The feathers 

 which compose the horns amount to six or eight on each 

 side ; and do not consist of a single feather, as Linn^us 

 and the early writers have asserted. 



Genus SURNIA, Dumeril. HAWK-OWL. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill short, bending from the base, the cutting margin 

 slightly sinuated. Cere short. Nostrils large, oval, obliquely 

 placed at the anterior margin of the cere. Facial disk very 

 incomplete and small, eyebrows projecting. Ears small, 

 oval. Wings of mean length ; not reaching, when closed, 

 to the end of the tail. The third quill-feather the longest. 

 Tail elongated, rounded, or wedge-shaped. Legs and toes 

 thickly feathered. Claws long, very sharp, and much in- 

 curved. Inner and middle claws grooved beneath, the latter 

 having a sharp inner edge ; those of the outer and hind toes 

 rounded. General plumage firmer in texture than the more 

 nocturnal group. 



