TEXGMALM'S OWL 



411 



abnormality, A further difference from the tawny owl is to be 

 found in the circumstance that the legs and feet are feathered right 

 down to the claws, all these differences being amply sufficient to 

 justify the reference of Tengmalm's owl to a separate genus. 



As regards colouring, the plumage of the male is umber-brown on 

 the upper-parts, marked with small white spots on the crown of the 

 head and larger blotches on the back, while the tail shows narrow 

 white bars ; the under surface being greyish white spotted and 

 streaked with umber. Be- 

 sides being larger, the female 

 has a less spotted plumage ; 

 while in young birds the 

 spotting is still less, and the 

 general colour darker. As 

 the- species does not breed in 

 this country, it will be un- 

 necessary to refer either to 

 the nestlings or the eggs. 



If its American repre- 

 sentative, the so-called 

 'Nyctala richardsoui, be rele- 

 gated, as it ought, to the rank 

 of a more local race, Teng- 

 malm's owl will have a 

 circumpolar distribution, in 

 great part restricted to the 

 more northern zones of both 

 hemispheres, since although 

 it breeds as far south as the 

 Alps and Carpathians, it is 

 only found in such latitudes 



at comparatively high elevations. Owing to its breeding so largely in 

 Arctic latitudes, w^here there is practically no night during the greater 

 part of the nesting-season, Tengmalm's owl is to a considerable extent 

 diurnal in its habits. 



Spring and autumn are the seasons when this owl favours us with 

 its rare visits. Of these about twenty-nine instances (one represented 

 by two and another by three individuals) appear to have been recorded 

 during the nineteenth century ; they range from Orkney in the north 

 to Kent in the south. 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND WARD STUDIOS 



TENGMALM S OWL. 



