CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 1. RAPTORES. 
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THE GEEAT SHORT-BAEKD OWL. 
Genm SYRNIUM : Syi •nium. — This term means Birds of Nighty and the genus includes sev- 
eral species, called Chats-Huant or Hooting-Cats by the French. 
The HuLOTTE or Wood-Owl, S. aluco^ is somewhat larger than the common European owl, 
but has similar manners and habits. It is found in the great forests of Europe, where it feeds on 
squirrels, bats, mice, &c. 
The Barred Owl, Canada Owl, or Clouded Owl, S. nehulosum, is very coinmon in the 
United States, especially about the region of Pennsylvania. It is sixteen or seventeen inches 
long, of a pale brown above, marked with transverse spots of white ; head large, and mottled with 
brown and white ; the under parts streaked with brown on a yellowish, ground. It feeds on mice 
and small quadrupeds, though it occasionally catches a fowl or a young rabbit. It is frequently 
seen flying by day, and is then harassed by various kinds of birds. Its hoot of Waugh! Waugh! 
at night, in the tbick forests, is doleful in tbe extreme. 
The Oural Owl, *S'. Uralense, is a large species, twenty-one inches long, and inhabits the 
Dortli of Europe and Asia. 
The Great Gray Owl, or Cinereous Owl, S. cinereum^ is a large species, found in the 
northern parts of both continents ; its upper parts are smoky brown, nearly every feather more 
or less mottled with ashy-white ; under parts smoky brown, also mottled with ashj^-white. The 
length is twenty-six inches. It is the largest species of owl known in the United States. It is 
found rarely in New England, breeds in Canada, Wisconsin, and Oregon, and is met with all 
across the continent farther north. 
The Pagoda Owl, S.pagodarum, is an East India species, seventeen inches long, vulgarly 
called Oume-Kolan. 
Genus NYCTALE : Nyctale. — Tiiis, whose name signifies Lovers of darkness, includes a single' 
American species, Tengmalm's Owl, N. Tengmalmi, ten and a half inches long, and found in the 
northern parts of our continent. 
The White-fronted Owl or Kirtland's Owl, N. albifrons, resembles the Acadian Owl, 
and has been regarded by some as identical with it. It is eight inches long, and is found m 
Canada. 
