_Otus_, CUV. Reg. An. 1799. (Type, _Strix otus_, LINN.)
_Asio_, SWAINS. 1831 (_nec_ BRISSON, 1760).
_Brachyotus_, GOULD, P. Z. S. 1837, 10. (Type, _Stryx brachyotus_.)
_Ægolius_, KEYS. & Bl. 1840 (_nec_ KAUP, 1829).
CHAR. Size medium. Ear-tufts well developed or rudimentary; head small;
eyes small. Cere much arched, its length more than the chord of the
culmen. Bill weak, compressed. Only the first, or first and second,
outer primary with its inner web emarginated. Tail about half the
wing, rounded. Ear-conch very large, gill-like, about as long as the
height of the skull, with an anterior operculum, which extends its full
length, and bordered posteriorly by a raised membrane; the two ears
asymmetrical.
Species and Varieties.
=A.= OTUS, Cuvier. Ear-tufts well developed; outer quill only with
inner web emarginated.
Colors blackish-brown and buffy-ochraceous,—the former predominating
above, where mottled with whitish; the latter prevailing beneath,
and variegated with stripes or bars of dusky. Tail, primaries, and
secondaries, transversely barred (obsoletely in _O. stygius_).
1. =O. vulgaris.= Ends of primaries normal, broad; toes feathered;
face ochraceous.
Dusky of the upper parts in form of longitudinal stripes,
contrasting conspicuously with the paler ground-color. Beneath
with ochraceous prevalent; the markings in form of longitudinal
stripes, with scarcely any transverse bars. _Hab._ Europe and
considerable part of the Old World …
var. _vulgaris_.[19]
Dusky of the upper parts in form of confused mottling, not
contrasting conspicuously with the paler ground-color. Beneath
with the ochraceous overlaid by the whitish tips to the
feathers; the markings in form of transverse bars, which are
broader than the narrow medial streak. Wing, 11.50–12.00; tail,
6.00–6.20; culmen, .65; tarsus, 1.20–1.25; middle toe, 1.15.
Wing-formula, 2, 3–4–1. _Hab._ North America …
var. _wilsonianus_.
2. =O. stygius.=[20] Ends of primaries narrow, that of the first
almost falcate; toes entirely naked; face dusky, or with dusky
prevailing.
Above blackish-brown, thinly relieved by an irregular sparse
spotting of yellowish-white. Beneath with the markings in form
of longitudinal stripes, which throw off occasional transverse
arms toward the edge of the feathers. Wing, 13.00; tail, 6.80;
culmen, .90; tarsus, 1.55; middle toe, 1.50. Wing-formula, 2,
3–4, 1. _Hab._ South America.
=B.= BRACHYOTUS, Gould (1837). Similar to _Otus_, but ear-tufts
rudimentary, and the second quill as well as the first with the inner
web emarginated.
Colors ochraceous, or white, and clear dark brown, without shadings
or middle tints. Beneath with narrow longitudinal dark stripes
upon the whitish or ochraceous ground-color; crown and neck
longitudinally striped with dark brown and ochraceous.
3. =O. brachyotus.= Wings and tail nearly equally spotted and
banded with ochraceous and dark brown. Tail with about six bands,
the ochraceous terminal. Face dingy ochraceous, blackish around
the eyes. Wing, about 11.00–13.00; tail, 5.75–6.10; culmen,
.60–.65; tarsus, 1.75–1.80; middle toe, 1.20. _Hab._ Whole world
(except Australia?).
Though this genus is cosmopolitan, the species are few in number; two
of them (_O. vulgaris_ and _O. brachyotus_) are common to both North
America and Europe, one of them (the latter) found also in nearly every
country in the world. Besides these, South Africa has a peculiar species
(_O. capensis_) while Tropical America alone possesses the _O. stygius_.
Otus vulgaris, var. wilsonianus, LESS.