444 ULULA ALUCO. 



Remarks. — The habits of this species have not been minutely 

 described by authors ; and the differences in the tints of its 

 plumage are not satisfactorily traced. Although my descrip- 

 tions have been taken from recent specimens, as well as skins, 

 I must confess that my knowledge of the Tawny Owl is not of 

 the most respectable character. The young of both sexes are 

 of more ferruginous tint than old birds, and so continue for at 

 least a year ; but whether the individuals of which the plumage 

 is much tinged with grey, are of both sexes, has not yet been 

 determined. If analogy be of any importance, we might infer 

 from well ascertained facts that the young of both sexes are 

 the tawny, and the adult the greyish birds. Thus, Dr Bach- 

 man, in Mr Audubon's Ornithological Biography, Vol. V, 

 p. 829 : " There is no doubt about the correctness of the changes 

 of plumage of this species (Strix Asio), for I have seen it in its 

 various stages from red to grey. I kept it more than a year in 

 domestication, when it underwent all its changes. I have taken 

 the young red birds from the nest, and the old in the same 

 hole, very grey. The bird breeds in the red state the following 

 spring, and does not become grey until two years old. Specimens 

 have been procured partially red and grey in the intermediate 

 state." 



