508 
SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — STRIGES. 
and 2d primaries emarginate on inner webs. Above, completely variegated, chiefly in streaks, 
with fulvous or tawny, and dark brown •, breast much the same, but other under parts paler 
ochrey, usually bleaching on the 
belly, which is sparsely but sharply 
streaked (never barred) with dark 
brown ; feet pale tawny or whitish, 
usually immaculate ; lining of wings 
interruptedly whitish. Wing-quills 
varied, mostly in large pattern, and 
tail pretty regularly barred (about 5 
bars) with the two colors of the 
upper parts. Facial area white or 
nearly so, l)ut with a large black eye- 
patch ; the disc minutely speckled 
with fulvous and blackish, bordered 
with white internally and usually 
having a blackish patch behind the 
ear ; radiating feathers of the oper- 
culum streaked with blackish and 
fulvous. Iris bright yellow ; bill 
and claws dusky-bluish ; the naked 
granular soles yellowish. The ear- 
opening of this species is extremely 
large, being two inches or more 
across the longest way. Length of a 
$ 14.50; extent 41.00; wing 12.00: 
tail G.OO; tarsus to end of middle 
claw 3.50; chord of culmen, cere 
included, 1.12 ; 9 averaging larger 
than Inhabits N. Am. at large, 
and most other parts of the world. It appears to be somewhat migratory with us, and is 
sometimes seen in considerable flocks, especially in marshy places, which are its favorite 
hunting-grounds for the small quadrupeds and other animals upon which it preys. It is a 
great destroyer of shrews and field-mice, deserving on this account to be protected in the 
interests of agriculture. The nest is commonly built on the ground, sometimes in an under- 
ground burrow, consisting of a little hay and feathers ; the eggs are 4-7 in number, dull white, 
roundish, about 1.55 X 1.25. This owl breeds indifierently in any latitude, and is one of those 
frequently abroad in the daytime. 
164. STRIX. (Gr. orply^, strigx, Lat. strix^ a screech-owl.) Gray Owls. Brown Owls. 
Wood Owls. Skull and ear-parts more or less unsymmetrical, the latter large, furnished 
with a moderate operculum scarcely reaching the whole length of the opening. Head very 
large, appearing as broad as the body, and perfectly smooth, there being no plumicorns : facial 
disc complete and of great extent, the comparatively small eyes centric in the radiating feathers. 
Nostril in edge of cere, which is shorter than rest of culmen. Bill yellow ; iris yellow or 
black. Tail very long, | to f as long as the wings. Wings much rounded ; 4 to 6 primaries 
sinuate on inner webs ; 1st quite short. Feathering of feet variable ; tarsus always feathered, 
but toes wholly or partly feathered, or naked. A large genus of ^earless' owls, chiefly of the 
northern hemisphere, of medium to very largest size. North America has at least three per- 
fectly distinct species; the commonest one of these, S. nehidosa, represents the European 
tawny owl, S. aluco. 
Fig. 355. — Short-eiaed Owl, reduced. (Sbeppard del. Nichols sc.) 
