ABERRANT GENERA OP THE OWLS. 329 
however imperfect may have been their facial disk, have 
nevertheless had its circumference indicated by a line 
of stiff scale-like feathers, more or less distinct, accord- 
ing to the degree in which the conch of their ears was 
developed. But in those which follow, even this remnant 
of the typical character is lost, together with all ap- 
pearance of egrets, and even much of the nocturnal 
habits of the typical owls. Many of those, indeed, 
which follow, hunt as much during the day — perhaps 
more than they do in the night ; and from this circum- 
stance, no less than from their general physiology, they 
have been called hawk owls. We have already inti- 
mated that but for the egrets of the Heliaptex arcticus it 
would be a Nyctia, the genus to which belongs the 
great white owl — that “northern hunter” of the 
poetic Wilson. This magnificent owl at present stands 
alone as the representative of this type, which is dis- 
tinguished by the ears being hardly larger than those 
of an ordinary bird, and totally unprovided with the 
series of stiff feathers ; the feet, also, are short, and 
clothed with thick feathers nearly to the claws. Unlike 
any of the preceding, the eyebrows project like Aose 
of the true falcons ; the head is small, and the habits of 
the bird are diurnal. These peculiarities, when com- 
bined, are quite sufficient to justify us, for the present, 
in placing Nyctia as a distinct genus. We are loath, 
however, to associate with this large and majestic bird 
a little group of South American owls, remarkable, on 
the other hand, for their diminutive size, hut yet pos- 
sessing a much closer affinity to IVyctio, than to any 
other group. Among these tropical passerine owls 
there exists, at present, so much confusion in regard 
to the names of the species, that we can hardly venture 
to cite one, by its correct name, as an example. M. 
Temminck has increased this confusion so much, that, 
although the group is almost exclusively American, we 
may quote the Nyctipetes perlatus Sw.* of Western 
Africa as a type. The reader will at once perceive that 
♦ Le Chevecliette Perlce, Ois. d’Afrique, vi. 284. 
