STRIGID/E. 87 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a specimen killed in May, 1827, at Carlton House. 



Colour of the bill and claws bluish-black, hides yellow. The face is white, bounded 

 posteriorly by blackish-brown, succeeded by white, which two latter colours are continued in 

 a mixed band across the throat. Egrets coloured at the base like the adjoining plumage, the 

 longer feathers tipped with blackish-brown, their inner webs white, varied with wood-brown. 

 The whole dorsal aspect is marked with undulated lines or fine bars of dark umber-brown, 

 alternating with white; the markings bearing some resemblance to those of the Virginian Owl, 

 but being much more lively and handsome. On the greater wing coverts, on the inner half of 

 the scapularies, and also partially on the neck and lesser wing coverts, the white is tinged or 

 replaced by pale wood-brown. The primaries and secondaries are wood-brown, with a con- 

 siderable portion of white along the margins of their inner webs. They are crossed by from 

 five to six distant umber-brown bars on both webs, the intervening spaces being finely speckled 

 with the same. Near the tips of the primaries the fine sprinkling of the dark colour nearly ob- 

 scures the wood-brown. On the tertiaries the wood-brown is mostly replaced by white. The 

 tail feathers are white, deeply tinged on their inner webs by wood-brown, and crossed by six 

 bars of umber-brown about half as broad as the intervening spaces : their tips are white. 



Under surface. — Chin white. Throat crossed by the band above mentioned, behind which 

 there is a large space of pure snow-white, that is bounded on the breast by blotches of liver- 

 brown situated on the tips of the feathers. The belly and long plumage of the flanks are 

 white, crossed by narrow, regular bars of dark-brown. The vent feathers, under tail coverts, 

 thighs, and feet, are pure white. The linings of the wings are also white, with the exception 

 of a brown spot on the tips of the greater interior coverts. 



Form, &c. — Bill strong, curved from the base, moderately compressed towards the tip, 

 with a very obtuse ridge. Nostrils large, roundish, covered by the wiry feathers proceeding 

 from the base of the bill. Facial disk small, incomplete above the orbit. Auditory concha 

 oval, without an operculum. Opening of the auditory canal small. Egrets more than two 

 inches long, each composed of six or seven feathers, and situated behind the upper end of the 

 black band bounding the face. The folded ivings fall about three inches and a half short of 

 the end of the tail. The webs of the quill feathers are very broad, and the wing is very con- 

 cave beneath. The second and third quill feathers are the longest; the fourth is about two 

 lines shorter ; the first and fifth are an inch shorter ; the others to the tenth diminish each in 

 succession about half an inch. The inner webs of the three first, and the outer ones of the 

 second and third, are sinuated. The points of the whole of the outer barbs of the first, and of 

 the barbs near the points of the second and third, are strongly recurved. The tertiaries are 

 very long, their tips passing that of the sixth primary. The tail is rounded, the outer feathers 

 being an inch shorter than the central ones. The plumage of the sides of the belly is long, 

 and hangs down over the thighs. The thigh feathers are very downy, but are not long. The 

 vent feathers and under tail coverts are also very downy. The tarsi are rather long, and the 

 toes are moderately long ; they are clothed to the roots of the nails by a close coat of hairy 

 feathers. Two transverse scales are partially visible at the root of each claw. The claws are 



