Birds of America
By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.
VOLUME I.
GENUS IV.--SYRNIUM, Cuv. 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 Rides 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.
Wins very large, much rounded, the outer quill with the tips of the filaments
separated and recurved, as are those of the terminal portion of the next; the
outer six with the inner webs sinuate. Tail broad, rounded.