The Birds of the Assyrian Monuments and Records, 67 
case, the name of its-tsur tu-ba-ci is admirably suited to one 
or other or both of these two small owls. 
(9.) The screech owl, or common barn owl {Strix flammed), 
is very probably represented by the ka-du-u S^fs:) 
and ac-cu-u 
(^H IhJ ^IIT") of the bilingual hsts. The 
second name appears to be imitative of the bird's hoot, for 
though the screech owl does not usually emit the long mono- 
tonous hoot of the tawny owl (Symium stridula), yet it does 
occasionly do so. The Assyrian Jcadu is identical with the 
kadyd (N^Tp) of the Tar gum, which is described as having 
its eyes, not at the side of the head as in birds generally, but 
in front like men, and as having a face like that of the cat. 
This well-known appearance arises from the arrangement of 
the feathers in front of the head, the facial disk in the white 
or screech owl being very large and complete. It resembles 
a cat, too, in respect of its beautifully soft plumage ; this 
character, like the soft scales of the puss-moth, giving to it 
the name of the "feathered cat," by which it is sometimes 
known. This species is not known to occur in Persia, but 
Tristram says it is very common in Palestine ; and Ainsworth 
also mentions it as one of the commonest owls of Turkey. 
(10.) There are apparently three or four names which 
occur in the list as those of woodpeckers. Thus we have 
ci-u-iuv -gjgyf £ t ) or cu-u-u Qgf ^g|f ^gya 
represented by the Accadian GIS-KHU H^D' probably 
" wood-bird," for the word is incomplete ; the Assyrian 
names are evidently onomatopoetic, expressive of the wood- 
pecker's peculiar note. Another name in Assyrian is an-pa-tuv 
(V>f- J^: evidently allied to the Hebrew niiph 
( Fp3 ), " to wave up and down" (compare nophet, "a dropping 
down"), an admirable description of the peculiar waving 
flight of many, if not all, of these birds. 1 The Accadian name 
is GIS-SIR (izf *^£^)> which is, literally, " bright," and is 
1 A philologist pure and simple would perhaps identify the anjpatuv with 
the Heb. HSJi^ which it resembles in sound. There is very little doubt that the 
andphah is the "heron"; but the "bright meteor bird of the wood" of the 
Accadian column would by no means suit the heron, 
