500 
SYSTE3IA TIC SYNOPSIS. — BAP TOMES — STBIGES. 
enable the birds to see by night, and cause them to suffer from the glare of the sunlight. Most 
species pass the daytime secreted in hollow trees, or dense foliage and other dusky retreats, 
resuming their wonted activity after nightfall. Owing to the peculiar texture of the plumage 
their flight is perfectly noiseless, like the mincing steps of a cat ; and no entirely fanciful anal- 
ogy has been drawn between these birds and the feline carnivora that chiefly prey stealthily in 
the dark. The nest is commonly a rude affair of sticks gathered in the various places of diurnal 
resort; the eggs are several (commonly 3-6), white, subspherical. The 9 ? as a rule, is larger 
than the $ , but the sexes are alike in color; the coloration is commonly blended and diffuse, 
difficult of concise description. Owls feed entirely upon animal substances, and capture their 
prey alive — small quadrupeds and birds, reptiles and insects, and even fish. Like most other 
Paptores, they eject from the mouth, after a meal, the bones, hair, feathers, and other indigesti- 
ble substances, made up into a round pellet. They are noted for their loud outcries, so strange 
and often so lugubrious, that it is no wonder traditional superstition places these dismal night- 
birds in the category of things ill-omened. Besides the well-known lines which are set 
beneath two of the accompanying figures, the reader may recall the owl as among the ' portents 
weird ' which foretell the fate of the unhappy queen of Carthage, when, deserted by ' pious ' 
u^neas, she resolves to die. 
"Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo 
Saepe queri, et longas in fletum ducere voces." — Verg., ^n., iv. 462. 
The hoot-owl, brooding ominous above 
Her fateful house, is wearing dismal night away 
With wild vociferation. Portents weird, etc. 
Owls are among the most completely cosmopolitan of birds ; with minor modifications 
according to circumstances, their general habits are much the same the world over. A diffi- 
culty of correctly estimating the number of species arises from the fact that many, especially of 
the more generalized types, have a wide geographical distribution, and, as in nearly all such 
cases, they split into more or less easily recognized races, the interpretation of which is at 
present a matter of opinion rather than a settled issue. About 200 species pass current; this 
number must be reduced by one-third ; out of about 50 generic names now in vogue, probably 
less than one-half represent some structural peculiarity. 
29. Family ALUCONID^ : Barn Owls. 
Two genera of Owls, Aluco and Phodilus, differ so much 
from other Striges that they may properly constitute a family 
apart from Strigidce. The prime character is anchylosis of 
the furculum Mdth the sternum, which latter bone is entire 
behind (unusual; compare fig. 56). External characters 
are: facial disc and outer ear-parts highly developed, the 
former not circular, but rather triangular, the latter sym- 
metrical ; middle and inner toes of about equal lengths ; iimer 
edge of middle claw serrate or jagged, simulating the pecti- 
nation seen in CaprimulgidcE, to which birds these owls are 
curiously related through Steatornis. The pattern of c(.lor- 
ation is peculiar; the plumage is very downy; the habits 
of the species are eminently nocturnal. The leading genus, 
Aluco ^ of several species or races, is nearly cosmopolitan, 
being absent only from high latitudes and some insular re- 
gions ; the other, of one species, Phodilus hadius, inhabits 
portions of Eastern Asia, Ceylon, Java and Borneo. — N. B. 
Adoption of the name Aluco for the Bam Owls, instead of Strix, requires the present family to 
Fig. 350. — Barn Owl. (From Dixon. ) 
