ASIO. 257 
f?. Tarsus longer than middle toe, scantily haired; tail less 
than half as long as wing, even. 
Micropallas. (Page 266.) 
6*. Tarsus more than twice as long as middle toe, and about half as long as tail. 
CWing 6.15-7.50)..... ccc csesccessscscsscusceseeasaes Speotyto. (Page 265.) 
Genus ASIO Brisson. (Page 256, pl. LXXIV., figs. 2, 3.) 
Species. 
a’, 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'. Ends of all the quills normal; toes feathered; face ochraceous. 
c’. 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.) Hab. Northern parts of eastern hemisphere. 
A. otus (Linn.). Long-eared Owl.} 
c’, 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. Vest, usually the deserted one of a crow, heron, 
magpie, or other bird of similar size. Eggs 3-7, 1.57 x 1.27, ovate 
or ovoid. Hab. Whole of temperate North America, south to table- 
lands of Mexico. 
366. A. wilsonianus (Luss.). American Long-eared Owl. 
b. 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 WaeL. Stygian Owl.” 
a’, Kar-tufts rudimentary; color (above and below) ochraceous or buffy whitish, 
striped, but not barred, with dark brown. (Subgenus Brachyotus GouLp.) 
Adult : Ground-color varying (individually) from bright tawny ochraceous 
to buffy 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 otua Linn., 8. N. ed. 10, i. 1758, 92. Asio otus Luss., Man. d’Orn. i. 1828, 116. 
1 Nyctalops stygius WaGL., Isis, 1832, 1221. Asio stygius Srricx., Orn. Syn. i, 1855, 207, 
33 
