About 40 different species of the nocturnal birds of prey are known to occur in the Neotropical Region. Six of them have been recorded as being found more or less frequently within the limits of the Argentine Republic. Of these, the Burrowing-Owl (_Pholeoptynx cunicularia_) is one of the most characteristic inhabitants of the Argentine Pampas, while two others, the Barn-Owl and the Short-eared Owl, are very widely diffused species, also well known in England. Fam. XXX. STRIGIDÆ, or BARN-OWLS. 286. STRIX FLAMMEA, Linn. (COMMON BARN-OWL.) +Strix flammea+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 116; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 187 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 622 (Misiones); _Withington, Ibis_, 1888, p. 468 (Lomas de Zamora); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ ii. p. 291. +Aluco flammeus+, _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 29 (Entrerios). +Strix perlata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 440; _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro_, p. 49. _Description._--Above orange-brown, marbled with ashy and white, and dotted with black spots with central white points; wings and tail crossed by four or five blackish bands; face silvery white, with a posterior and inferior border of orange-brown and black: beneath white, more or less suffused with tawny, except on the lower belly, and dotted with distinct rounded black spots; bill yellowish; tarsus feathered; toes slightly bristled; claws long and sharp: whole length 15·0 inches, wing 12·5, tail 5·0. _Female_ similar. _Hab._ Old and New Worlds. This widely distributed species is found throughout South America; and in its habits and sepulchral voice, as well as in its pretty reddish buff, grey, and white plumage, is identical with the European bird. D'Orbigny expressed astonishment that this Owl, which is never seen in uninhabited places, invariably appears to keep company with man wherever a settlement is formed, even in the most lonely and isolated spots. Probably it is much more numerous than most people imagine, sheltering itself everywhere in caverns and hollow trees, so that it is always present, and ready to take early advantage of the commodious church-tower or other large building raised by man. On the level pampas, where there are no hills or suitable hiding-places, it is rarely seen: it is exclusively a town bird. Nothing more need be said of the habits of a species so well known, and about which there is so much recorded in general works of Natural History. Fam. XXXI. BUBONIDÆ, or OWLS. 287. ASIO BRACHYOTUS (Forst.). (SHORT-EARED OWL.)