403 



ULULA OTUS. 



THE MOTTLED TUFTED-OWL, OR " LONG-EARED 

 OWL." 



Tufts of about twelve feathers, projecting an inch 

 beyond the plumage of the head ; the upper parts light 

 reddish-yellow, spotted and finely undulated with brown 

 and greyish- white ; the lower marked with oblong 

 brown streaks and faintly undulated ; the facial disk 

 whitish in its anterior half, pale yellowish-brown be- 

 hind, the eye half surrounded by dark brown. The 

 young with the facial disk yellowish-brown, the colours 

 otherwise nearly similar. 



Male This species of owl is remarkable for the 



minute mottling of its plumage, and the elongated tufts 

 of feathers on the crown of its head, which it raises or 

 depresses at will. The body is deeper than broad, 

 much compressed behind ; the neck rather short and 

 slender ; the head very large and somewhat triangular. 

 The bill is short, rather stout ; the upper mandible with 

 its dorsal line slightly curved from the base, towards 

 the inner end decurved, the ridge broad at the base, nar- 

 rowed anteriorly, convex in its whole extent, the sides 

 sloping at the base, convex towards the tip, the edges 

 soft and obtuse as far as the nostrils, being covered 

 with skin continuous with that of the palate, then sharp 

 and hard to the end, below the nostrils inflected, after- 



