130 
Genus IV.— SYRNIUM, Cm. HOOTING-OWL. 
Bill short, stout, broad at the base ; upper mandible with its dorsal 
outline convex to the end of the cere, then curved, the sides sloping and 
nearly flat, the tip compressed, decurved, acute ; lower mandible small, 
with the dorsal line convex, the tip narrow, the edges decurved toward 
the end. Nostrils large, elliptical. Conch of the ear of medium size, and 
furnished with an anterior semicircular operculum, beset with slender 
feathers. Legs rather short; tarsi very short, and with the toes feathered. 
Claws slightly curved, long, slender, compressed, acuminate. Plumage 
very soft and downy ; facial disks complete. Wings very large, much 
rounded, the outer quill with the tips of the filaments separated and re- 
curved, as are those of the terminal portion of the next ; the outer six with 
the inner webs sinuate. Tail broad, rounded. 
GREAT CINEREOUS OWL. 
Syrnium cinereum, Linn. 
PLATE XXXY. 
This fine Owl, which is the largest of the North American species, is 
nowhere common with us, although it ranges from the north-eastern coast 
of the United States to the sources of the Columbia river. It has been pro- 
cured near Eastport in Maine, and at Marblehead in Massachusetts, where 
one of them was taken alive, perched on a wood pile, early in the morning, 
in February, 1831. I went to Salem for the purpose of seeing it, but it had 
died, and I could not trace its remains. The gentleman, Mr. Ives, in whose 
keeping it had been for several months, fed it on fish and small birds, of 
which it was very fond. Besides shewing me various marks of attention, he 
gave me a drawing of it made by his wife, which is still in my possession. 
It uttered at times a tremulous cry not unlike that of the Little Screech Owl, 
Strix Jlsio, and shewed a great antipathy to cats and dogs. In the winter 
of 1832, I saw one of these Owls flying over the harbour of Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, amid several Gulls, all of which continued teasing it until it disap- 
peared. I have seen specimens procured on the Rocky Mountains by Mr. 
