58 BIRDS. ACCIPITRES. Strix. 



Strix, Will. Om. 65. Sibb. Scott. 15 Tawny Owl and Brown Owl, Penn. 



Brit. Zool. i. 208 Strix stridula, Linn. Syst. i. 133 — S. aluco, Ternm. 



Orn. i. 89 — Screech -Owl, Brown-Owl, Wood-Owl — W, Dylluan frech, 



Aderyn-y-Cyrph ; G, Cumhachag, Cail leach oidcho Near woods and 



houses, not uncommon. 



Length 14, breadth 33 inches; weight 12 ounces. Plumage reddish-brown, 

 with black, striped, and mottled with dusky, with some white spots on the 

 auricles, scapulars, and wing-coverts. Quills and tail barred with reddish- 

 brown and black ; first, second, third, fourth and fifth quills with the inner 

 margin abbreviated ; a slight concavity in the margin of the outer web of the 

 second, third, and fourth. In the female the plumage is of a redder colour. 

 Breeds in old trees. Eggs 2 or 3, of a dull white. Feeds on young hares, 

 pigeons, and mice. 



33. S. nyctea, Snowy-Owl. — Bill and claws black, irides 



yellow. 



Lin. Sj'st. i. 132. Bullock, Lin. Trans, xi. 175. Edmonstone, Wern. 

 Mem. iv. 157- Temm. Orn. i. 82 — Inhabits Zetland. 



Length 2 feet, breadth 5 feet 5 inches. Plumage white, with transverse 

 streaks of brown or dusky. In old birds, the plumage is wholly white ; in the 

 young, the spots and bars are more numerous. Tail rounded, about the 

 length of the wings. Supposed to breed in Zetland and Orkney. According 

 to Mr Edmonstone, it rests generally beneath some stony projection, which 

 protects it from the direct influence of the sun. Frequents solitary elevated 

 places. Preys chiefly on sandpipers and mice. Hoots when irritated, like 

 the preceding species. 



34. S. passerina. Little Owl. — Bill and claws brown, tip 

 of the former yellow ; irides yellow. 



Noctua minor, Will. Orn. 69 Strix pass. Linn. Syst. i. 133. Penn. Brit. 



Zool. i, 211. Temm. Orn. i. 92 — W, Coeg Ddylluan — In England, 

 rare. 

 Length 1, breadth 14 inches. Plumage, above, greyish-brown, with white 

 spots ; breast white ; remainder, below, reddish-white, with cinereous brown 

 spots. The female has reddish spots on the neck. Breeds in holes in old 

 walls. Eggs 2 or 4, rounded, white. Feeds on mice and small birds — It is 

 uncertain whether this species breeds in England, or is only an occasional 

 visitant. 



PASSERES. 



I. The first joints of the outer and middle toes connected by 

 membranes. 



• Gape remarkably large. BUI wide at the base ; a little hooked 

 at the point. Fissirostres. 



•f Nostrils open. Wings long, flight rapid. 

 Hirundo. 

 Cypselus. 



■f f Nostrils tubulur. 

 Caprimulgus. 



** Gape of the ordinary size. 



•f Upper mandible with a notch in the margin. Dektirostres, 



