508 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — BAPTOSES— STBIOES. 



164. 



and 2d primaries emarginate on inner webs. Above, completely variegated, chiefly in streako, 

 with fulvous or tawny, and dark brown ; breast much the same, but other under parts paler 



ochrey, usually bleaching on the 

 belly, which is sparsely but sharply 

 streaked (never barred) with dark 

 brown ; feet pale tawny or whitish, 

 usually immaculate ; lining of wings 

 interruptedly whitish. Wing-quills 

 varied, mostly in large pattern, and 

 tail pretty regularly barred (about 5 

 bars) with the two colors of the 

 upper parts. Facial area white or 

 nearly so, but with a large black eye- 

 patch ; the disc minutely speckled 

 with fulvous and blackish, bordered 

 with white internally and usually 

 having a blackish patch behind the 

 ear ; radiating feathers of the oper- 

 culum streaked with blackish and 

 fulvous. Iris bright yellow ; bill 

 and claws dusky-bluish ; the naked 

 granular soles yellowish. The ear- 

 opening of this species is extremoly 

 large, being two inches or more 

 across the longest way. Length of a 

 S 14.50; extent 41.00; wing 12.00; 

 tail 6.00; tarsus to end of middle 

 claw 3.50; chord of culmen, cere 

 included, 1.12 ; ? averaging larger 

 FIG. 355. -Short-eared Owl, reduced. (Sheppard del. Nichols so.) ^t^^^ ^ _ Inhabits N. Am. at large, 



and most other parts of the world. It appears to be somewhat migi-atory wdth us, and is 

 sometimes seen in considerable flocks, especially in marshy places, which are its favorite 

 hunting-grounds for the small quadrupeds and other animals upon which it preys. It is a 

 great destroyer of shrews and field-mice, deserving on this account to be protected in the 

 interests of agriculture. The nest is commonly built on the ground, sometimes in an under- 

 ground burrow, consisting of a little hay and feathers ; the eggs are 4-7 in number, dull' white, 

 roundish, about 1.55 X 1.25. This owl breeds indifferently in any latitude, and is one of those 

 frequently abroad in the daytime. 



STRIX. (Gr. crrply^, strigx, Lat. strix, a screeoh-owl.) Gray Owls. Brown Owls. 

 Wood Owls. Skull and ear-parts more or less unsymmetrical, the latter large, furnished 

 with a moderate operculum scarcely reaching the whole length of the opening. Head very 

 large, appearing as broad as the body, and perfectly smooth, there being no plnmicorns ; facial 

 disc complete and of great extent, the comparatively small eyes centric in the radiating feathers. 

 Nostril in edge of cere, which is shorter than rest of culmen. Bill yellow; iris yellow or 

 black. Tail very long, f to f as long as the wings. Wings much rounded ; 4 to 6 primaries 

 sinuate on inner webs; 1st quite short. Feathering of feet variable) tarsus always feathered, 

 but toes wholly or partly feathered, or naked. A large genus of ' earless ' owls, chiefly of the 

 northern hemisphere, of medium to very largest size. North America has at least three per- 

 fectly distinct species ; the commonest one of these, S. nebulosa, represents the European 

 tawny owl, S. aluco. 



