216 
ON THE CLASSIFICATION OP BIROS. 
length of the bill. Nostrils oval, obliquely transverse. 
Wings lengthened; the third quill longest. Feet 
rather short. Tarsi slender, feathered beyond the 
knees ; the front and back smooth. Anterior scales 
transverse ; posterior as if in one entire piece ; lateral 
scales, and those at the base of the toes, very small 
and indistinctly reticulate. T oes strong ; inner toe 
the shortest of all. Claws grooved beneath, unequal ; 
hinder and inner nearly of the same size, outer, 
most much smaller than the middle. Tad broad, 
rounded, (fig. 196.) 
H. Pondiceriaiius. PI. Enl. 416. 
'>y a'lttiors, agree 
with the above definition, cannot be ascertained. I liave, therefore, taken 
and norh“‘^"’” entirely from this one species, which seems to have an equal, 
and perhaps a greater, claim to a station in the genus Pandion. ^ 
Family STRIGlDuE. Owls. 
Head very large. Eps surrounded with a circle of ra- 
diated feathers, forming a facial disk ; plumage soft, lax. 
Ears large. Feet generally feathered to the toes ; outer 
toe directed outwards. Bill more or less short, thickly 
protected by basal bristles : upper mandible entire, lower 
notched. Feed and fly during night. 
Strix, Linn, typical Owls. Head and facial disk very 
large : tlie former generally 
without egrets; the latter com- 
plete, and margined by a border 
of narrow stiff feathers. Ears 
very large ; the conch pro- 
tected by an operculum or lid. 
Feet moderately long, scantily 
feathered. 
Striw. Head enormous, wider than the body, witliout 
egrets. Bill somewhat lengthened, and straight at the 
base. Tarsi rather long. The middle claw serrated. 
Ears and operculum very large, 
S. flammea. Selby, PI. 124 . badia. Horsf. Java. 
ScotiapteoCj Sw, Head smallerj without egrets. Oper- 
