502 
SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. 
— BAPTOBES — 
STBIGES. 
425, A. flam'meus pratin'cola. (Lat. flammeiis, flame-colored ; pratincola, meadow-inhabiting.) 
Barn Owl. Above, including upper surfaces of wings and tail, tawny, fulvous, or orange- 
brown, delicately clouded or marbled witli ashy and white, and dotted with blackish, sometimes 
also with white ; such marking resolved, or tending to resolve, into four or five bars of dark 
mottling on the wings and tail. Below, including lining of wings, varying from pure white to 
tawny, ochrey, or fulvous, but usually paler than the upper parts and dotted with small but 
distinct blackish specks. Face varying from white to fulvous or purplish-brown, in some shades 
as if stained with claret, usually quite dark or even black. About the eyes, and the border of the 
disc, dark brown. Thus extremely variable in tone of coloration, but the pattern more constant, 
while the generic characters render the bird unmistakable. Nestlings are covered with fluffy 
white down. Length 15.00-17.00 j extent about 44.00; wing 13.00-14.00; tail 6.00-7.00 ; bill 
0.95 ; tarsus 2.75. 9 larger than ^ . The superior size is the chief distinction from the Old 
World A. flammeus. U. S. from Atlantic to Pacific; somewhat southerly, only known N. to 
Massachusetts and corresponding latitudes; S. into Mexico, West Indies and Central America; 
abundant in wooded, settled, and especially maritime regions ; usually resident. Breeds natu- 
rally in hollow trees, frequently in the barn, belfry, tower, or other building ; eggs 3-6 in 
number, colorless or soiled yellowish-white, about 1.75 X 1-25, nearly equal-ended, laid with 
little or no preparation upon the debris of the hole, commonly bones and other refuse of the 
food, which is chiefly small quadrupeds and insects. 
30. Family STRIG-ID^ : Other Owls. 
mmm^^^^ All other Striges, as far as 
B or twice notched on each side 
B behind, and the furculum free 
M from that bone. The outer ear- 
^ parts are sometimes as highly 
developed as in AliiconidcBj or 
they may be quite small; the 
facial disc varies in size and per- 
fection, being largest, most cir- 
cular, and most completely radi- 
ating from the eye as a centre in 
those species in which the ear- 
~ - conch is best developed. These 
g two characters would therefore 
^ , r ~ seem to go together, and they 
Fig. 352. —Mobbing an owl. (From Micbelet.) are not correlated with the pres- 
ence or absence of plumicorns. The inner toe is shorter than the middle, and the middle 
claw is not pectinate. It may prove advisable to make these features the basis of a division 
of the Strigidcs into two subfamilies, Strigina and BuhonmcE, as proposed by Mr. Sharpe ; but 
I do not deem it expedient to present such arrangement on the present occasion. In the event 
of such final determination, our genera Strix, Asio, and Nyctala would fall in Strigincs; the 
rest in Buhonince. 
Analysis of Genera. 
(40) Strigin^e ? Eye centric in large complete circular disc, and ear-concli larger than eye, with well 
developed operculum. 
Plumicorns absent ; cere short. 
Ear-parts symmetrical. Large : length over 12 inches Strix 164 
Ear-parts asymmetrical. Small : length under 12 inches Nyctala 167 
Plumicorns present; cere longer than rest of culnien ^si<^ ^63 
