Genus SYRNIUM: Syrnium.-This term means Birds of Night, and the genus includes several species, called Chats-Huant or Hooting-Cats by the French.

The HULOTTE or WOOD-OWL, S. aluco, is somewhat larger than the common European owl, but has similar manners and habits. It is found in the great forests of Europe, where it feeds on squirrels, bats, mice, &c.

The BARRED OWL, CANADA OWL, or CLOUDED OWL, S. nebulosum, is very common in the United States, especially about the region of Pennsylvania. It is sixteen or seventeen inches long, of a pale brown above, marked with transverse spots of white; head large, and mottled with brown and white; the under parts streaked with brown on a yellowish ground. It feeds on mice and small quadrupeds, though it occasionally catches a fowl or a young rabbit. It is frequently seen flying by day, and is then harassed by various kinds of birds. Its hoot of Waugh! Waugh! at night, in the thick forests, is doleful in the extreme.

The OURAL OWL, S. Uralense, is a large species, twenty-one inches long, and inhabits the north of Europe and Asia.

The GREAT GRAY OWL, or CINEREOUS OWL, S. cinereum, is a large species, found in the northern parts of both continents; its upper parts are smoky brown, nearly every feather more or less mottled with ashy-white; under parts smoky brown, also mottled with ashy-white. The length is twenty-six inches. It is the largest species of owl known in the United States. It is found rarely in New England, breeds in Canada, Wisconsin, and Oregon, and is met with all across the continent farther north.

The PAGODA OWL, S. pagodarum, is an East India species, seventeen inches long, vulgarly called Oumé-Kolan.

Genus NYCTALE: Nyctale.-This, whose name signifies Lovers of darkness, includes a single American species, TENGMALM'S OWL, N. Tengmalmi, ten and a half inches long, and found in the northern parts of our continent.

The WHITE-FRONTED OWL or KIRTLAND'S OWL, N. albifrons, resembles the Acadian Owl, and has been regarded by some as identical with it. It is eight inches long, and is found in Canada.

Genus OTUS: Otus.-This includes several species, marked by movable ear-tufts. The LONG EARED OWL OF EUROPE-Hibou of the French; Hibou Moyen Duc of Temminck-is fourteen or fifteen inches long, and feeds on small quadrupeds, as rats, moles, mice, and small birds. Its general color above is light brown, marked with streaks of blackish-brown; beneath, mixed grayish white and pale brown, streaked with umber. It is common in England, France, and throughout all Europe.

The AMERICAN LONG-EARED OWL, O. Wilsonianus, resembles the preceding, and has been regarded as the same species, but it is somewhat larger and darker colored, and is doubtless distinct. It is one of the commonest owls of the Northern and Eastern States, breeds in Pennsylvania, and is found as far north as Hudson's Bay.

The SHORT-EARED OWL, O. brachyotus, is fourteen inches long, and is distinguished by a small head; it feeds on small quadrupeds and small birds, and being migratory in England, coming from the north in October, is called the Woodcock Owl.

The AMERICAN SHORT-EARED OWL, or MARSH OWL, Strix brachyotus of Forster, is like the preceding, and has been regarded as the same species; Cassin thinks, however, that it is larger and darker colored, and that it is probably distinct. It is common throughout Northern America, being migratory in the United States, as is the case with the American Long-eared Owl, coming from the north in November and departing in the spring.

Genus STRIX: Strix. This includes the EUROPEAN Barn-Owl, S. flammea, which may be considered as the type of the genus Strix, which embraces the true owls; it is the Effraie and Petit Chat-huant Plombé of the French; Barbagianni, Alloco Commune e Bianco of the Italians; Schleierkauz, Perlschleierkautz, and Perl-Eule of the Germans; Barn-Owl, White Owl, ChurchOwl, Gillihowlet, Howlet, Madge-Howlet, Madge-Owl, Hissing-Owl, and Screech-Owl of the English; and Dylluan Wen of the Welsh. The upper parts are bright yellowish, varied with gray and brown zigzag lines, and sprinkled with a multitude of small whitish dots; face and throat white; lower parts in some individuals rusty white, sprinkled with small brown dots; in others bright white, marked with small brownish points; in others again without the slightest appearance of spots; feet and toes covered with a very short down, more scanty on the toes; iris yellow; length about thirteen inches. There are varieties, some whitish and some entirely white. It is common in most parts of Europe.

Montagu says that this species is never known to hoot. Mr. Yarrell states that it screeches, but does not generally hoot. Sir W. Jardine declares that he shot one in the act of hooting, and that at night, when not alarmed, hooting is its general cry. It hisses, and, like other owls when annoyed or frightened, snaps its bill loudly. It was said to snore, but this sound is now regarded as the grumbling of the young ones when hungry. Rats, mice, shrews, young birds, and beetles form their food, and the mice especially suffer when the White Owl has a young brood to sustain. It has been seen to catch fish. It is almost domesticated in Europe, especially in England, inhabiting even populous towns, and is particularly attached to towers, belfries, the roofs of churches, and other lofty buildings, which afford it a secure retreat. Every one will remember the fine descriptive lines of Gray, referring, no doubt, to this species

from yonder ivy-mantled tower,

The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,
Molest her ancient, solitary reign.”

Macgillivray tells us that the barn-owl chooses for his place of repose some obscure nook in an old building, the steeple of a church, a tower, a dove-cot, or a hollow tree. There he remains from sunrise to sunset, in a nearly erect posture, with retracted neck and closed eyelids, dozing away the hours in which, from the structure of his eyes, he is unable to approach his prey, and waiting for the return of twilight. If approached in this state, instead of flying off, he raises his feathers, hisses like an angry cat, clicks his bill, and thus threatens the intruder. Should he by an accident be driven abroad, he seems dazzled and bewildered. Incapable of distinctly perceiving the objects around him, he flits about with an unsteady flight, and is glad to betake himself to some dark retreat, where he may be sheltered from the light, as well as from his numerous enemies.

But although the barn-owl is so imbecile by day as to suffer itself to be insulted with impunity by the pettiest aggressor, it assumes a very different character when darkness restores to it the faculty of clearly distinguishing objects. By watching near its haunts, or taking one's station in the neighborhood of some farm-steading frequented by it, one may dimly see it advance with silent and gliding flight, skimming over the fields, shooting along the hedge-bank, deviating this way and that, and now perhaps sweeping overhead, without causing the slightest sound by the flappings of its downy wings. On perceiving an object, it drops to the ground, secures its prey in a moment, and uttering a shrill cry, flies off with it in its claws. In a little time it returns, and thus continues prowling about the farm-yard for hours.

The nests of this species are very rude; the eggs three or four in number; these are laid at different times, so that the hatching of the young is often several weeks apart. It is capable of

domestication, and becomes very amusing. Waterton, the celebrated naturalist and traveler, had a large colony of these owls at his country-seat, Walton Hall, in England. They became very numerous, and were by no means shy, so that their natural history was very easily studied. Among the curious facts furnished by him in respect to this species are the following:

“When one of these birds has young, it will bring a mouse to its nest about every twelve or fifteen minutes. But in order to have a proper idea of the enormous quantity of mice which it destroys, we must examine the pellets which it ejects from its stomach in the place of its retreat. Every pellet contains from four to seven skeletons of mice. In sixteen months from the time when the apartment of the owl in the old gateway was cleaned out there has been a deposit of above a bushel of pellets." From this it appears that the barn-owl is an uncommonly good liver; it may be added, that although the farmers have generally been an enemy of this owl, it is no doub. one of their greatest benefactors.

This bird, as it appears, is not confined to Europe, but extends to Asia; it inhabits Tartary, where, according to Pennant, "the Moguls and natives almost pay it divine honors, because they attribute to it the preservation of the founder of their empire, Genghis Khan. That prince, with his small army, happened to be surprised and put to flight by his enemies, and forced to conceal himself in a little coppice; an owl settled on the bush under which he was hid, and induced his pursuers not to search there, as they thought it impossible that any man could be concealed in a place where that bird would perch. Thenceforth they held it to be sacred, and every one wore a plume of the feathers of this species on his head. To this day the Kalmucs continue the custom on all great festivals, and some tribes have an idol in the form of an owl, to which they fasten the real legs of one."

The AMERICAN BARN-OWL, S. Americana, was long considered as identical with the preceding, but though it resembles it, it is larger, measuring sixteen inches. It is found throughout the United States-very sparingly in New England and the Middle States, but being more abundant in the South and West; it is also found in Mexico and Canada. It is less accustomed to dwell in the vicinity of towns and villages than the barn-owl of Europe, and instead of making its retreat in churches and ruins, it lives chiefly in old trees. In other respects it is exceedingly like the European bird we have just described.

The PIGMY OWL, S. infuscata, is the smallest North American species known, being but six and a half inches long: found in Oregon and California.

The BOOBOOK or BUCK-BUCK, S. bookbook of Latham, is an Australian species, which may be heard nearly every night during winter, uttering a cry corresponding with that word. Although this note is known to every one, the bird itself is known but to few, and it has cost naturalists considerable time and trouble before they could satisfy themselves respecting its identity. The cry of the bird is somewhat similar to that of the European cuckoo, and the colonists have hence given it that name. The lower order of the settlers in New South Wales are led away by the idea that every thing is the reverse in that country of what it is in England, and the cuckoo, as they call this bird, singing by night, is one of the instances which they point out.

The CAPE OWL, S. Capensis, is found in the regions near the Cape of Good Hope. It has been sometimes confounded with the barn-owl, which is abundant there, and is called Doodvogel, but it is a distinct species.

The term Passeres is derived from the Latin Passer, a Sparrow; its signification here is not very obvious, but it may be taken as meaning a group of birds that perch like the sparrow; in other words, the Passeres are Perching-Birds, and this order is the same as the Insessores—a term derived from the Latin insessus, and meaning perching—of many authors. It includes not only a great number of genera and species, but a great diversity of kinds, some very unlike others. They approach closely to the scansorial or climbing birds, which, in fact, might perhaps with propriety be united with them to form a single order, as the principal distinction consists in the structure of the feet, which in the Passeres possess four toes-three directed forward and one backward. This distinction is, however, more apparent than real, as several of the passerine birds have the power of turning one of the toes backward at pleasure; and the cuckoos can turn one of their hind toes forward. The tarsi and toes are always scutellate, and the hinder portion and sides of the former are usually covered with a single horny plate, which is also sometimes the case with the anterior surface of this part of the leg. The legs and feet are generally slight, and the claws, although curved, never constitute powerful hooked talons, as in the predaceous birds.

The power of flight is possessed in great perfection by most of these birds; the wings are large and powerful, and the crest of the sternum very well developed. The primary quill feathers of the wing are generally ten in number; but the first of these is frequently wanting, or very small The tail is usually composed of twelve quill feathers. The bill is very variable in form, sometimes elongated and slender, sometimes stout and conical, or depressed and opening with a very wide gape. The upper mandible is frequently more or less toothed near the tip. From these peculiarities in the form of the bill the primary classification of these birds most generally in use is derived, each form being characteristic of a group or sub-order. Thus the birds in which the bill is more or less depressed, with a very wide gape, are called Fissirostres, and feed upon insects, which they capture on the wing. Those which have the bill elongated and awl-shaped are called Tenuirostres, and feed upon soft larvæ and the juices of flowers; and those with a somewhat conical bill, but toothed, and usually more or less hooked at the tip, are called Dentirostres, and feed principally upon insects and fruits. Those with a stout conical bill, in which the upper mandible is not distinctly toothed, are called Conirostres; in these the bill is usually employed in crushing the hard seeds which constitute their food. The œsophagus of these birds is usually dilated into a sort of crop; the stomach forms a powerful muscular gizzard, and the intestine is furnished with two cœca, generally very small. Many of them have also a complicated muscular apparatus. at the lower larynx, which enables them to produce charmingly modulated notes.