BIRDS 8YRNINAE — SYRNIUM. 
55 
Ear tufts very short. Entire plumage buff or pale fulvous ; every feather on the upper parts with a wide longitudinal stripe 
of dark brown, which color predominates on the back. Under parts paler, frequently nearly white on the abdomen, with 
longitudinal stripes of brownish black most numerous on the breast ; very narrow and less numerous on the abdomen and flanks ; 
legs and toes usually of a deeper shade of the same color as the abdomen. Quills pale reddish fulvous at their bases; brown at 
their ends, with wide irregular bands and large spots of reddish fulvous ; tail pale reddish fulvous, with about five irregular 
transverse bands of dark brown, which color predominates on the two central feathers ; under tail coverts usually nearly white. 
Throat white ; eyes enclosed by large spots of brownish black ; ear tufts brown, edged with fulvous ; bill and claws dark j irides 
yellow. 
Total length, female, about 15 inches ; wing, 12 ; tail 6 inches. Male, rather smaller. 
JJab. — The whole of temperate North America, Greenland, (Hollboll,) Cuba, (Lembeye.) Spec, in Nat. Mus., Washington, 
and Mus. Acad., Philadelphia. 
This owl is of frequent occurrence in the Atlantic States, especially in the winter ; and at 
that season appears to prefer meadows and marshes in the vicinity of rivers, or "other streams 
of water. In the present collection the specimens tend to demonstrate that it is equally 
abundant on the Pacific, and we detect no differences in specimens from the opposite coasts of 
our continent. 
List of specimens. 
j Catal. No. 
Sex and age. 
Locality. 
When collected. 
Whence obtained. 
Original No. 
Collected by- 
Measurements. 
Remarks. 
Length. 
Extent 
4539 
4634 
4354 
8791 
9140 
9139 
6888 
5485 
3 
3 
Q 
White river, N.T 
Oct'r 9, 1855 
February, 1855 
15.50 
42.25 
Grindstone creek, N. T... 
Dr. Win. Hammond 
Wm. F. Magraw 
Lt. Trowbridge ... 
August20,lS57 
Deceinb'r,1854 
January, 1855 
164 
14.00 
41.50 
12.00 
Q 
Q 
3 
Q 
Lt. R. S. Williamson 
16.00 
39.00 
12.00 
Sub-Family SYRNINAE. — T h e Gray Owls. 
Head large, with very small and concealed ear tufts, or entirely without. Facial disc nearly 
perfect ; eyes small for the family of owls ; wings rather short, or not so long as in the pre- 
ceding ; tarsi and toes generally fully feathered. This group contains some of the largest of 
owls ; generally, however, the size is medium, and frequently small. 
SYRNIUM, Savigny. 
Syrnium, Savigny, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I, p. 112, (1809.) 
Size usually large ; head large, without ear tufts ; eyes rather small ; facial disc somewhat imperfect in front. Bill strong, 
curved from its base ; wings moderate, somewhat rounded ; fourth and fifth quills longest ; tail rather long, wide, and usually 
rounded at the end ; legs moderate, or rather long, which, with the toes, are densely covered with short feathers ; claws long, 
strong, very sharp. 
Species of this genus inhabit principally the northern parts of the world, and are generally 
characterized by the prevalence of gray or cinereous of various shades in their plumage. 
