ALUCONID^ : BABN OWLS. 



501 



be called AlucomdtB, instead of Strigidce ; which latter name is to be applied to the succeeding 

 family. 

 160. AliU'CO. (Ital. oZocfeo, some kind of owl. Pigs. 47, 351.) Bakn Owls. To above characters 

 add : Wings very long, pointed, folding beyond the tail, the 1st or 2d primary longest, and none 

 emarginate. Tail short, nearly even or emarginate, about -J as long as the wing. Tarsus nearly 

 twice as long as middle toe without claw, closely feathered, the plumage becoming scant and 



Fig. 351. — Barn Owls, J nat. size, {From Brelim.) 



" From yonder ivy-mantled tower, 

 The moping owl'does to the moon complain 

 Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bower, 

 Molest her ancient solitary reign." — Geay. 



bristly below, like that on the nearly naked toes, and reversed in direction on the posterior 

 aspect; claws extremely long and acute (see fig. 47). Bill lengthened, compressed, the cere 

 nearly as long as the rest of the culmen ; nostrils oval ; no plumicoms ; eyes comparatively 

 small, black; biU light-colored; plumage flagrant, not dichromatic ; size medium. One Korth 

 Am. species. 



