154 TAWNY OWL. 
back. Greater and lesser under wing coverts, dull white, 
barred with pale brown; tail, pale rufous grey speckled with 
dark brown, and barred, but faintly, on the outer webs with 
the same: the two middle feathers are nearly plain, and rufous; 
the tip white; underneath it is dull white, barred with pale 
brown; tail coverts, as the back; under tail coverts, dull white 
barred with rufous brown, the shafts of the feathers brown; 
legs, almost entirely covered with yellowish white or grey 
feathers, spotted with brown; toes, dark yellow or flesh-coloured, 
and rough; claws, horn-coloured, with black tips, and not very 
much hooked. 
The female chiefiy differs in size, and is less tawny, so that 
it was formerly thought to be a different species. Weight, 
nineteen ounces; length, one foot three to one foot five inches. 
The wings expand to the width of three feet, and upwards. 
The young are at first covered with grey down. ‘The young 
female assumes a rufous tinge, the tail is scarcely barred, and 
the bars on the wings are narrower than in the adult birds. 
The young male resembles the female for the first two years. 
A variety with the parts light ash grey, which are usually 
brown, was met with in 1848, at Pensax, near Worcester. It 
had previcusly been remarked in the nest. 
