ALUCO, OR BROWN OWL. 135 



trees where they have probably been hatched : and, hud- 

 dled together near the trunk, they escape pretty readily 

 the notice of their enemies. On being approached, 

 however, by the parents, they utter a hissing call, audible 

 for some distance. According to Audubon, when kept 

 in captivity they prove very useful in catching mice. 

 Their flesh is also eaten by the Creoles of Louisiana and 

 considered as palatable. 



The length of the male of this species, according to Wilson, is 16| 

 inches, according to Temminck 21^ ! I have found the female 

 to measure, as given by Wilson, 22 inches; Temminck's meas- 

 urement of the same sex is nearly 23^. The face cinereous, striped 

 with brown. Above, as well as the tail, of a cinereous brown, 

 barred transversely with whitish and yellowish. Wing-coverts 

 thickly spotted with white. Tail remarkably convex above, barred 

 with 5 or 6 broad stripes of brown. Fore part of the neck and breast 

 whitish, barred transversely with pale brown ; below, striped longi- 

 tudinally with the same, to the tail. Legs clothed with short feath- 

 ers; the extremity of the toes covered with scales. 



ALUCO, OR BROWN OWL. 



{Strix aluco, Gmelin. Latham, Ind. Orn. i. p. 59. [adult.] S. stridula, 

 Latham, Ind. i. p. 56. sp. 25. [the young, or Tawny Owl.} 



Sp. Charact. — Tawny, with dark brown and small white spots; 

 below yellowish- white, with transverse bars of brown, crossed by 

 narrow longitudinal ones of blackish ; iris of a blackish blue ; 

 the wings extending a little beyond the tail ; 4th and .5th primaries 

 longest. — Female more tawny, often inclining to ferruginous 

 red. The Young of a year resemble the female, and have the 

 iris brown. 



This species, hitherto seen only in Newfoundland, and 

 the young suspected to occur at Hudson's Bay by Pen- 

 nant, is common in Europe, and usually frequents the 



