160. 
ALUCONIDZ:: BARN OWLS. 501 
be called Aluconida, instead of Strigide ; which latter name is to be applied to the succeeding 
family. 
ALU'CO. (Ital. alocho, some kind of owl. Figs. 47,351.) Barn Ow.s. To above characters 
add: Wings very long, pointed, folding beyond the tail, the Ist or 2d primary longest, and none 
emarginate. Tail short, nearly even or emarginate, about 4 as long as the wing. Tarsus nearly 
twice as long as middle toe without claw, closely feathered, the plumage becoming scant and 
SS 
Fig. 851. — Barn Owls, } nat. size. (From Brehm.) 
“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.”’ —GRay. 
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 plumicorns; eyes comparatively 
small, black ; bill light-colored; plumage flagrant, not dichromatic; size medium. One North 
Am. species. : 
