20 
STRIGINiE. SURNIA. 
banded with light red ; lower parts light yellowish-red, the neck 
streaked with brown. Young like the female, but lighter. 
Male, 19|, 44. Female, 20^, 46f. 
Breeds from Texas northward. Columbia River. 
Marsh Hawk, Falco iiliginosus, Wils. Amer. Om. v. vi. p. 67. Young Female. 
Falco cyaneus, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. ii. p. 30. 
Hen-Harrier or Marsh Hawk, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 109. 
Marsh Hawk, Falco cyaneus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 396. 
Buteo (Circus) cyaneus? var? Americanus, American Hen-Harrier, Swains. Rich. 
F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 55. 
FAMILY III. STRIGIN^. OWLS. 
Bill very short, strong, cerate ; upper mandible with the 
tip elongated and decurved ; lower mandible with the end 
rounded and thin-edged. Head extremely large, owing to the 
wide separation of the tables of the cranium, roundish, more 
or less vertically flattened behind, feathered. Eyes exces- 
sively large, with prominent superciliary ridges, and encircled 
by series of decomposed feathers. External apertm*e of ear 
always very large, frequently excessive, simple or operculate. 
Tarsus short, very short, or of moderate length, always 
feathered, as are the toes, of which the outer is versatile, 
the first shorter than the second, the anterior free ; claws 
very long, slender, curved, extremely acute. Plumage very 
full and soft. Wings long, broad, rounded, the second, 
third, and fourth quills longest, the filaments of the outer 
more or less enlarged and recurved at the end. Tail broad, 
rather short or of moderate length, of twelve feathers. 
CEsophagus very wide, without crop or dilatation ; stomach 
very large, round, somewhat membranous, its muscular 
fasciculi being placed in a single series ; intestine short and 
wide ; coeca large, oblong, obtuse, narrowed at the base. 
Young at first covered with light-coloured dowa, when 
fledged, with the face darker than that of adults. Eggs 
white, somewhat globular or broadly ovate, from four to six. 
Nests rudely constructed, in hollow trees, on branches, in 
buildings, or on the ground. 
