LONG-EARED OWL. 161 



occnrred at Malta. The Long-eared Owl of America formerly, 

 and still by some ornithologists, regarded as identical with 

 the species of the Old World, is now usually considered dis- 

 tinct, and, in Mr. Gurney's opinion, the American bird, the 

 Otus wilsonianus of Lesson, constantly differs from our own 

 in being darker, while, according to Prof. Schlegel, the bars 

 of the plumage are wider and deeper in colour. 



Brisson's genus Asio, of which the present species is the 

 type, takes precedence of Cuvier's Otus, and is therefore here 

 retained, though the latter has been usually accepted. 



The exposed portion of the beak is dusky horn-colour ; 

 the base and cere are hidden by the feathers of each inner 

 side of the facial disk ; the irides orange-yellow ; radiating 

 feathers of the facial disk on each outer side pale brown, 

 with a half circular boundary line of darker brown ; on 

 the inner side varied with dusky brown at the base, and 

 white towards the tips ; the tufts on the head, an inch and 

 a half in length, are formed of about seven or eight feathers, 

 longer than wide, dark brownish-black in the middle, with 

 the inner edges greyish- white, the outer ochreous ; top of 

 the head between the tufts a mixture of brownish-black, 

 greyish-white and ochreous ; nape, round the neck, and the 

 upper part of the back marked with longitudinal streaks 

 of brownish-black on an ochreous surface ; the back, wing- 

 coverts, secondaries and tertials, a speckled mixture of black, 

 greyish-white and brown on ochreous ; primaries light 

 ochreous-brown, barred and speckled with darker brown ; 

 the second quill the longest, and the wing when closed 

 reaching a little beyond the end of the tail ; upper surface 

 of the tail nearly the same but more ferruginous ; the breast 

 and belly a mixture of greyish- white and pale brown, with 

 longitudinal streaks and imperfect bars of umber-brown ; 

 under tail-coverts, legs and toes nearly to the tip, uniform 

 pale ochreous-brown ; tail beneath greyish-white tinged with 

 ochre, with narrow bars of dusky brown ; claws horn-colour. 

 The whole length is about fourteen inches. 



The asymmetry of the ears in Tengmalm's Owl has been 

 already briefly mentioned and in that bird it seems to attain 



VOL. I. Y 



