300 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Shetlands, Aberdeen and Wiltshire. Four, two in Scotland 

 and one each in Cornwall and Somerset, were of the American 

 form, and one, in Northamptonshire, is uncertain. 



The bird is hawk-like in appearance, having the facial disc 

 incomplete, and also in its dashing flight and semi-diurnal 

 habits. It is dark brown above, spotted and mottled with 

 white ; a broad black band borders the white disc. The tail is 

 long and graduated, barred with brown. The under parts are 

 regularly barred with dark brown, these bars being broader, 

 redder, and more pronounced in the American bird. The bill 

 is yellowish white, the claws dark, the irides bright yellow. 

 The female is the larger bird. Length, 14 to 16 ins. Wing, 

 9'2 to 9'5 ins. Tarsus, i in. . 



Tengmalm's Owl. Nyctala fu7ierea (Linn.). 



Tengmalm's Owl (Plate 117) is a bird of the mountain forests 

 of northern and central Europe and western Asia. In winter 

 it descends to the lowlands and wanders ; from time to time 

 examples have reached Britain, both in spring and autumn ; it 

 is an occasional visitor in the colder months. The majority 

 of the wanderers have been recorded from eastern counties, 

 but a few have been seen in inland and >vestern shires, as well 

 as in Scotland and the Shetlands. 



In its northern haunts, where in summer there is little 

 difference in the light by day or night, the bird hunts at any 

 time, feeding on small mammals, birds and insects. Its call 

 is a soft, long whistle, and Mr. J. M. Charlton states that a 

 bird in captivity had " a low, mewing note," as Avell as the 

 whistle. From Scops Owl it may be distinguished by the 

 absence of ear-tufts, and from the Little Owl by its barred 

 under parts and feathered toes. The under parts of the Little 

 Owl are streaked, its toes merely covered with bristles. The 

 upper parts of Tengmalm's Owl are umber-brown, mottled with 



