( 113 ) 



86. [Strix flammea L. 

 Local name: ('(inijii. 



The Coiumon Barn ()vvl is n rare specie.s ; it was heard on one occasion at 

 Laiueiro, on the north coast of San 3Iij;nel. 

 Specimens in I'onta Deljjaihi Blnseum : 

 a. Seta (.'idades, San Miguel.] 



87. Asio otus ? snbsp. 



A young bird in down, with wings and tail hall' grown, belongs to a form of 

 Asio nfits, which is either the typical form or an nuknown subspecies. It was 

 obtained in Ajiril 10ii:5 at I'onta Delgada, San Miguel, and differs from similarly 

 aged examples oi' A.v'o otn.s otus from Europe in being darker and greyer, and not 

 BO buff'y, esjiecially on the abdomen. Another rather older bird tVom Arrifes, San 

 Miguel, however, agrees perfectly with young birds from Europe, being underneath 

 buffy, not greyish. 



[Local name : Mocho. 



Specimens in the Ponta Delgada Museum. 



a — c. ad. et juv. Sete Cidades, San Miguel. 



An adult bird from Sete Cidades was presented to the British Museum. 



The Long-eared Owl is not a common species, but occurs in the neighbourhood 

 of Sete (!idades, San Miguel, and breeds there. On one occasion we observed 

 an owl, no doubt of tliis species, above Calheta, on San Jorge, and a specimen 

 was subsecpieutly procured for us there by a local sjiortsman ; but when it reached 

 tile hands of our friend Senhor da Cunha it was too much decomposed to be worth 

 preserving. We {irocured a young bird which had been caught in the town of 

 Ponta Delgada, and handed over to Major F. A. Chaves ; it had evidently been 

 brought down from the hills, probably from Sete Cidades, and had subsequently 

 escaped. 



During the whole t)f our stay in the Azores, though ofteu out of doors till 

 twelve or one o'clock in the morning, we never once heard an owl hoot. The 

 dilHcnlty of obtaining these birds is very great ; pole-tra])s placed in the most 

 likely spots, in localities where we knew owls were to be found, were invariably 

 avoided, and during many nights of jiatient watching we never once had the 

 satisfaction of firing a shot at one of these birds. 



Wliile flighting woodcock one evening on the top of San Jorge, just as it 

 was becoming dark, a large owl flew slowly over an open heath-covered patch 

 in front of us. I had taken the cartridges from my gun, and was engaged in 

 ligliting the motii-lamp : l)ut Mr. Harwood, who was standing beside me, flred 

 a couple of unsuccessful shots at the bird. I had a good view of it as it tojjped a 

 neighbouring bank, and noted that it was a much larger bird than either A. otus or 

 A. acri pit ri nils ; it looked to me exactly like the Tawny Owl {Si/rnium «/«t'o)]. 



88. Asio accipitrina (Pall.) 



Strii.r iifrijiitrina Pallas, Reise d. rerscli. Prof. (I. Rkss. Rciclis, i. p. 45.5 (1^01 : " Ad mare Caspium "). 



[Local name ; Mocho. 



The Short-eared Owl is a scarce species in the Azores, and ajiparently only an 

 occasional visitor to the islands. It is not known to breed there. An immature 



b 



