VARIATION 303 



^Athene chtaradics'. Herein we have an instance of sudden 

 variation, of mutation, of quite exceptional interest. 



To be brief, the specific name Athene chiaradice was be- 

 stowed by Professor GiglioH of Florence upon a small Owl 

 bearing traces of nestling down on its plumage which had been 

 taken during the summer of 1899 from a nest of four at Piz- 

 zocco on the prealps of Fineli, at an altitude of 1,003 metres. 

 Immediately after this bird came into his hands Professor Gig- 

 lioH took steps to secure further specimens, but without success 

 until July, 1900, when a careful search at Pizzocco led to the 

 discovery of a nest containing four young birds — three of which 

 proved to be typical examples of the Little Owl AtJiene noctua ! 

 In 190 1 a third example of this peculiar form was taken at 

 Fregona from a nest of three, the co-nestlings being of the 

 normal type of A. noctua. During the summer of 1902 the 

 last nest was discovered. This contained four young birds, 

 three of which were of the normal A. noctua type. With this 

 nest the parent birds were also captured thus setting at rest all 

 doubts as to the parentage of this strange variety. Of these 

 parents Professor Giglioli writes : " Although they cannot in 

 any way be considered other than true A. noctua, yet they are 

 individually and in different ways distinct from the usual A. 

 noctua ". 



The typical Athene noctua, it may be well to remark, has 

 pale straw-yellow irides, the upper plumage clove-brown with 

 triangular white stripes on the head, white spots on the nape 

 and wings, and four bars of dun-white on the tail. The under 

 parts are dun-white streaked with brown. 



The parents of the particular nestlings just referred to 

 differed in the following respects. The male was "bigger than 

 the average adult male A. noctua". "The coloration of the 

 brown upper parts and of the blotches on the lower parts is 

 singularly light, nearly isabelline . . . (it) has hardly any white 

 on its facial disc, which is grey ; and, lastly, it is remarkable for 

 the great number, large size, and white colour of the blotches 

 on the top of the head, and for the extraordinary width of the 

 rectices, the outer ones (not the broadest) measure 22 mm., the 

 usual width being about 16 mm., in the adult males of A. 

 noctua. 



" The female is not less remarkable, but quite different ; 



