ALUCONIDJE: BABN OWLS. 
501 
be called Aluconidce, instead of StrigidcB ; wliich latter name is to be applied to the succeeding 
family. 
160. ALU'CO. (Ital. alocho, some kind of owl. Figs. 47, 351.) Barn Owls. To above characters 
add : Wings very long, pointed, folding beyond the tail, the 1st or 2d primary longest, and none 
eniarginate. Tail short, nearly even or emarginate, about i as long as the wing. Tarsus nearly 
twice as long as middle toe without claw, closely feathered, the plumage becoming scant and 
Fig. 351. — Barn Owls, ^ iiat. size. (From Brebiii ) 
" From yonder ivy-mantled tower, 
The moping owl does to the moon complain 
Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bower, 
Molest her ancient solitary reign." — Gray. 
.Hi 
^ bristly below, like that on the nearly naked toes, and reversed in direction on the posterior 
^ aspect claws extremely long and acute (see fig. 47). Bill lengthened, compressed, the cere 
nearly as long as the rest of the culmen ; nostrils oval : no plumicorns ; eyes comparatively 
J small, black ; bill light -colored; plumage flagrant, not dichromatic ; size medium. One North 
, u Am. species. 
