TENGMALM'S OWL. 157 



In America this. species is represented by the closely-allied 

 Nyctala ricluirdsoni, which is smaller and not so much 

 spotted.* 



The beak is yellowish-white ; the irides yellow ; the top 

 of the head, nape, back and wings chocolate-brown, with 

 minute white spots on the top of the head, and larger white 

 patches on the back and wing-coverts ; some smaller white 

 spots on the lower or distal part of the outer web of the 

 wing-feathers are arranged so as to give the appearance of 

 bands ; tail-feathers clove-brown above and greyish-white 

 beneath, with soiled white spots forming interrupted bars ; 

 tail-feathers extending nearly an inch beyond the ends of the 

 wings. Facial disk soiled white ; round the eyes a dark 

 ring forming a band, which is broadest on the inner side ; 

 the ends of the feathers extending over and hiding the base 

 and sides of the beak ; neck, breast and belly greyish-white, 

 indistinctly barred and spotted with clove-brown ; under tail- 

 coverts dull-white without spots ; tarsi and toes covered with 

 soiled white feathers, slightly speckled with brown ; claws 

 black. The whole length of the bird is from eight and a 

 half to nine inches. 



The kindness of Herr Robert Collett of Christiania in 

 communicating to the Editor a description of the skull of 

 this species, together with an illustrative specimen, enables 

 him to mention briefly the extraordinary fact that the 

 asymmetry displayed by the region of the ears in Teng- 

 malm's Owl extends to the configuration of the skull. It 

 had already been stated by Dr. Kaup (Transactions of the 

 Zoological Society, vol. iv. p. 206) that the ear-orifices in 

 the Owls of this genus were asymmetrical ; but, so far as the 

 Editor is aware, no one had suspected that the irregularity 

 was more than skin-deep. Herr Collett's observations on 

 this subject will doubtless be immediately laid before the 

 public, and it would be unfair to the discoverer of this, at 

 present, unique feature in the structure of birds, to antici- 

 pate them here. 



* Tlie kte Sir William Milner recorded (Zool. p. 7104) the supposed occurrence, 

 near Keverley in Yorkshire, of another allied American species, the N. acadka. 



