_Surnia_, DUMÉRIL, Zoöl. Anal. 1806, 34. (Type, _Strix ulula_, LINN.)
GEN. CHAR. Size medium; form elongated, and general aspect hawk-like. No
ear-tufts. Four outer quills with their inner webs sinuated, the third
longest; tail nearly as long as the wing, graduated. Ear-conch small,
simple, oval. Bill strong, yellow; eyes small, the iris yellow. Tarsi
and toes thickly covered with soft dense feathers; tarsus shorter than
the middle toe. Plumage much more compact, and less downy, and remiges
and rectrices stiffer and straighter than in other Owls.
The single species of this genus belongs exclusively to the cold
temperate and arctic zones of the Northern Hemisphere, and is
circumpolar. Though somewhat hawk-like in its appearance, it is
nevertheless a true Owl, and possesses no affinities of structure with
the Hawks, any more than other species of _Strigidæ_.
Species and Races.
=S. ulula.= Above dark vandyke-brown, the head above dotted with
white, and the scapulars spotted with the same. Beneath transversely
barred with vandyke-brown and white, the bars regular, continuous, and
sharply defined. Head and neck with two lateral, and one posterior
medial, stripes of brownish-black, the space between them with white
prevailing. Bill and iris yellow. Wing, about 9.00; tail, 6.80–7.00.