STRIGIDA—OWLS. 143 
with white ; wings pale brown and white spotted ; tail gradu- 
ated; semi-circular band over ear-coverts, a patch on sides of 
neck, and region round the eyes dark brown ; face silvery-white ; 
under parts whitish, narrowly but closely darred with brown ; 
billand soles yellow ; claws black ; irides straw-yellow. Length 
15 to 16 inches ; culmen 0'9 ; wing 8°8 tog; tail 7 ; tarsus o'9. 
Immature Birds: Generally duller than adults ; throat 
and sides of neck tinged with buff; legs and feet less feathered, 
otherwise very similar. 
Distribution: Inhabits northern parts of the Palearctic 
region, occasionally straggling further southward in winter. 
Habitat: Both forest and open country. Diurnal. 
Genus NYCTALA. 
TENGMALM’S OWL. VA 
Nyctala tengmalmi (Gme/). 
Adult : Above dull brown, spotted more or less conspicu- 
ously with whitish ; tail-feathers crossed with four bars of white ; 
facial disc greyish-white, in some marked with blackish ; a ring 
round eyes, and lores black ; margin of facial disc dark brown, 
spotted copiously with white ; under parts white, davved and 
otherwise marked especially on sides of body zwzth reddish- 
brown; bill yellowish, set with black bristly feathers ; feet 
clothed with long white feathers ; claws black ; irides bright 
yellow. Length 85 to g inches ; culmen 1; wing 6°25 to 
6°75; tail 4°4; tarsus I. 
Female: Slightly larger than male. 
Nestling: Entire plumage dull sooty-brown, face blackish- 
brown, with a spot of white over each eye ; traces of white spots 
also on wings ; abdomen and vent drabbish-brown, mottled with 
dark brown. 
Immature Birds: Plumage chocolate-brown, darker on 
face; feathers at base of bill, a broad stripe above the 
eye and a smaller one below the eye white; wings mot- 
tled with white; tail-feathers crossed by three ill-defined 
whitish bars ; under parts brown, mottled with white. 
Distribution: Resident in the northern portions of the 
Palearctic region, occurring also in Central Europe. 
Habitat: Thick forest regions. Nocturnal. 
