37 



Order!. ACCIPITKES. 



Family III. Strigidje. 



The second Subfamily, 



BUBONIN^E, or Horned Owls, 



have the head large, broad, flat on the top, and furnished with two prominent tufts ; and the facial 

 disk imperfect above the eyes. 



Bubo Sibb* 



Bill moderate, broad and concealed at the base, and compressed on the sides ; the culmen curved 

 to the tip, which is hooked and acute ; the lateral margins slightly sinuated ; the nostrils placed in 

 the fore part of the cere, and hidden by the projecting plumes, large, oval, or rounded. Wings rather 

 long, with the second, third, and fourth quills nearly equal and longest. Tail moderate and rounded. 

 Tarsi short, thick, and densely plumed. Toes moderate and thickly plumed ; the tip of each toe 

 furnished with two or three transverse scales, which are more or less concealed by the plumes ; the 

 lateral toes unequal ; the hind toe short ; the claws long, strong, and curved. 



These large birds inhabit most parts of the world, regardless of the climate. They frequent old buildings, holes in 

 the sides of the trees, precipitous hills and ravines of the mountains, or they may be seen in the deep shades of the 

 swamps of large forests. Their food is sought for chiefly during the night, and consists of small mammalia, birds, 

 lizards, and the larger kinds of insects. Some of the species have been observed watching for fish, which they strike at 

 and seize with their foot. During the night they emit a loud prolonged hoot, and when alarmed they hiss, and make a 

 loud snapping noise with their bill. The nests are built amidst ruins, in rocks, in the hollows or fork of a tall tree ; 

 and are formed of sticks piled in considerable quantities, lined with dry leaves and a few feathers. The female usually 

 lays from two to four eggs. 



1. B. maximus Sibb. — Strix bubo Linn. PL enl. 435. ; Bubo 

 atheniensis Baud. ; B. europeeus Less, Gould, B. of Eur. pi. 37- 



2. B. sibiricus Eversm. 



3. B. capensis Daud. Tr. d'Orn. p. 20Q., Le Vaill. Ois. d'Afr. t. 

 40., 111. S. Afr. Zool. Birds, pi. 70. 



4. B. ascalaphus Sav. Desc. de l'Egypte, Ois. t. 3. f. 2., Gould, B. 

 of Eur. pi. 38., PL col. 57- —Type of Ascalaphia /. Geoffr. (1837). 



5. B. lacteus (Temro.) PI. col. 4. 



6. B. cinerascens Guer. Rev. Zool. 1843.321. 



7. B. orientalis (Horsf.) Linn. Trans, xiii. 1 74. — Strix surna- 

 trana Raffl.; Str. strepitans Temm. PL col. 174.229.; Bubo 

 (Huhua) nipalensis Hodgs.; Type of Huhua Hodge. (1837)- 



8. B. pectoralis (Jerd.) Madr. Journ. Lit. & Sci. 1839- 89. pi. 1. 



9. B. coromander (Lath.) Gray, 111. Ind. Zool. pi. 20. — Urrua 

 umbrata Blyth. ? 



10. B. bengalensis (Frankl.) Proc. Z. S. 1831. 115., Gould, Cent, 

 of Birds, pi. 3. — Bubo cavearius Hodgs. ; Type of Urrua Hodgs. 

 (1837). 



11. B. sultaneus Less. Tr. d'Orn. p. 1 1 5. 



12. B. virginianus (Gmel.) Less. Wils. Orn.pl. 50. f. 1. — Bubo 

 pinicola Vieill. Ois.d'Ame'r. Sept. t. 19. ; B. arcticus Rich, fy Swains. 

 Faun. Bor. Amer. pi. 30., Audub. B. of Amer. pi. 6l. ; Strix ma- 

 gellanicus Gmel. PL enl. 385. ; Str. nacurutu Vieill Azara No. 42. ; 

 Type of Heliaptex Swains. (1837). 



* Established by Sibbald in 1684 (Scotia illustrata). In 1830 M. I. Geoffroy separated a species under the name of Ascalaphia. In 

 1837 Mr. Swainson proposed Heliaptex, and in the same year Mr. Hodgson adopted two divisions under the names of Huhua and Urrua; 

 these he changed in 1841 to Etoglaux and Mesomorpha. 



