Ornithology of Cyprus. 35 



hundred yards of the camp. In short, it is very common, well 

 distributed, very noticeable on account of its loud cries, which 

 it utters incessantly at night and sometimes during the day, 

 and extremely familiar, frequenting barns, farm-buildings 

 and houses, and being often seen in the towns themselves. 

 With regard to the coloration of the many specimens which 

 we obtained, I can only say that they varied remarkably, 

 some being extremely light and others quite dark. We kept 

 two pairs for some time in captivity, and deposited one pair 

 in the Zoological Gardens in London. Of these two pairs, 

 those taken from the farm-buildings, attached to my house 

 in Nicosia, were extremely dark, and I should regard them 

 as typical Athene noctna ; the second pair, taken from the 

 sandy district at Athalassa by Mr. Barrett, was extremely 

 light and were in my opinion equally typical of Athene 

 glanx. In Cyprus I doubt if any real border-line exists 

 between the two forms. 



707. Subsp. Athene glaux (Savigny). 



In view of what I have written with regard to the preceding 

 species, it is unneccessary to add anything further in con- 

 nexion with this form. 



709. Aluco flammeus (Linn.). 

 Strix flammea, B. O. U. List, p. 85. 



The Barn or White Owl is, without doubt, very rare in 

 Cyprus. Lord Lilford heard it at Larnaca and Famagusta, 

 and Guillemard, in 1887, saw at the former place two indi- 

 viduals, which had been taken there, but he never observed 

 the species elsewhere and only once doubtfully heard its cry 

 during his two visits. The only specimens of which I have 

 any knowledge is an adult, brought alive to Mr. Baxendale 

 on the 13th of June, 1909, which had been taken near 

 Papho, and another shot in the same district. I am unable 

 to say what is the status of this bird in the island, but am 

 inclined to think that it is only a straggler. 



710. Gyps fulvus (Gmel.). 



The island is not large enough to offer a larder for 

 very great numbers of Vultures, compared with the swarms 



d 2 



