Family III. STRIGINAE. OWLS. GENUS III. STRIX, Linn. SCREECH-OWL
Bill short, compressed, deep, strong; upper mandible with is
dorsal outline straight to the end of the cere, then curved, the
sides nearly flat and erect, the tip deflected, with a rounded
but sharp-edged point; lower mandible with the dorsal line
convex, the sides convex, the edges arched, the tip obliquely
truncate. Conch of the ear semicircular, extending from over the
anterior angle of the eye to the middle of the lower jaw;
aperture large, somewhat square, with an anterior operculum
fringed with feathers. Legs rather long, tarsus long, feathered,
scaly at the lower part; toes large, the first short, the inner
nearly as long as the middle, all with series of small
tuberculiform oblong scales, intermixed with a few bristles, and
three broad scutella at the end. Claws arched, long, extremely
sharp, the edge of the third thin and transversely cracked in
old birds. Plumage very soft and downy; facial disks complete.
Wings long, ample, rounded; t