161. 
462. 
STRIGIDZ: OTHER OWLS. 503 
(41) Busoninz? Eye eccentric, nearer top than bottom of more or less incomplete disc, and ear-conch 
not larger than eye, without developed operculum. 
Plumicorns present, well-developed. 
Very large: length over 18 inches; tail about the wing . . . hip MCSE dee . Bubo 161 
Small: length under 12 inches; tail about 4 the wing poles Dg: Bete et ap Fd Gyre Scops 162 
Plumicorns present, rudimentary. Very large: length over 18inches. White... . . Myctea 165 
Plumicorns absent. 
Tarsus full-feathered. 
Tail graduated. Length over 12inches. Hawk-like........ +... .Surnia 166 
Tail rounded. Length much under 12inches. . . .... +. +... + Glaucidium 168 
Tarsus naked®or scant-feathered. 
Length under 8inches . . a eh a See ch SA a, Re . Micrathene 169 
Lengthover8inches ...... > RE ge! He! Sel Se Meee. ct Speotyto 170 
BU'BO. (Lat. bubo, the horned owl.) Tus Grear Hornep Owxs. Hoot Owns. Skull 
and ear-parts symmetrical (of same size on both sides of head), the latter simply elliptical, 
non-operculate, not longer than the great yellow eye, which is eccentric in the moderately devel- 
oped facial dise (nearer its top than bottom). Plu- 
micorns highly developed. -Nostrils oval, in the 
edge of the cere, which is not inflated, nor as long 
as the rest of the culmen; bill robust, black, not 
buried in the frontal bristles. Wings rather short, 
folding short of the end of the tail, the 3d or 4th 
primary longest, the first 2 or 3 emarginate near 
their ends. Tail rounded, more than 3 as long as 
the wing, its under coverts not reaching its end. 
Feet densely feathered to the last joint of the toes, 
but claws exposed. Of medium and very large size 
(some of the species are nearly the largest of the 
owls), and variegated, usually dark, colors ; plumage 
not dichromatic. Embracing numerous species, of 
all America and nearly all of the Old World ; only 
one, however, in N. Am. 
B. virginianus. (Lat. virginianus, Virginian. 
Fig. 353.) Great Hornep Owt. Hoor Owt. 
Car Ow.. Distinguished by its large size and con- 
spicuous ear-tufts, our other species of similar stature 
being tuftless or nearly so. Length nearly or about 
two feet; extent 4 or 5 feet; wing 14.00-16.00 ' 
inches; tail 8.00-10.00; tarsus 2.00-2.25; culmen yg, 353. — Great Horned Owl, much reduced. 
without cere 1.10-1.20. Q averaging larger than g. (From Tenney, after Audubon. ) 
Plumage varying interminably, no concise description meeting all its phases. A white collaron 
the throat is the most constant color-mark. On the upper parts, the under-plumage tawny, but 
so overlaid with coarse mottling of blackish and white, that it shows chiefly on the head, nape, 
and scapulars ; the mottling chiefly transverse, and resolving into 7 to 9 continuous or broken 
bars on the wings and tail. Under parts white, indefinitely tawny-tinged, and for the most 
part barred crosswise with blackish, changing on the fore breast to ragged and rather length- 
wise blotches. Feathering of feet nearly plain tawny. Ear-tufts black and tawny; a dark 
mark over eye; border of the facial disc black, the face white or tawny, but the feathers mostly 
black-shafted. Bill and claws black ; iris yellow ; pupil always circular; when fully dilated as 
large as a finger-ring, contractile to the size of a pea. Young covered at first with white down ; 
first plumage more uniformly tawny and lighter-eolored than it becomes after the first moult, 
when the white collar and other distinctive markings are assumed. This powerful bird, only 
