2(30 M. Meiiz])icr on the Birds of European 



very possible that near tlie Caspian Sea Athene noctua may 

 be replaced by Athene orientalis. 



In Southern Russia, from the Volga to the northern slopes 

 of the Caucasus and Bessarabia, the Little Owl is very com- 

 mon and partially resident. 



In the Crimea Athene noctua is very common, but the 

 specimens procured in that country differ froiu those of 

 Central Russia in being more greyish brown, like Athene 

 meridionalis. 



Glaucidium passerinum. 



The Pygmy Owl is distributed throughout the northern 

 forests of Russia. Generally it is resident, but the birds 

 of the extreme north winter in Central Russia. 



In Finland it is found as far north as lat. 68^°, but it is 

 rare near the northern limit of its breeding-range; and though 

 it occasionally occurs near Archangel, it is not found in the 

 valley of the Petchora. In the Ural Mountains it occurs 

 only as far north as Ekaterinburg. Further south it breeds in 

 the forests of the northern part of the Government of Oren- 

 burg, in the Government of Kazan, and generally in the 

 country of the Middle Volga as far south as the Govern- 

 ment of Simbirsk. It is common in the Government of 

 Vologda and in Finland, but rarer in the Governments of 

 St. Petersburg, Tver, Jaroslav, Moscow, in the Baltic Pro- 

 vinces, in Poland, and in Lithuania. In the central portions 

 of Russia the Pygmy Owl is said to be resident in the Govern- 

 ment of Riazan ; but in the Governments of Tula and Orel it 

 is found only during the winter migration. 



SURNIA ULULA. 



Like Nyctale tengmalmi and Glaucidium passerinum, the 

 Hawk-Owl is an inhabitant of the northern forest-country 

 or " Taiga ^^; but it ranges further north than either of these 

 birds, as far as the limit of forest-growth. 



In the Kola Peninsula this bird is found up to lat. 67°-68°, 

 and in the country between the White Sea and the Ural 

 Mountains as far north as lat. 66-67°. Throughout the 

 forests of Northern Russia, from the Gulf of Bothnia in the 



