case of Athene chiaradiae. 5 



I noted nothing worthy of remark, except the large size of 

 the testes, considering the time of the year and the age of 

 the individual. My friend Prof. E. Regalia, one of the best 

 comparative osteologists I know, on carefully comparing 

 the limb-girdles and the sternum of this and the common 

 Civetta, found no appreciable differences except slightly 

 smaller dimensions in our bird. 



I have nothing to add as to the colour of the irides in 

 A. ckiaradue, in which the palpebral edges are black, making 

 the eyes look larger than in A. nuctua. In my specimen 

 the bill is notably larger and more robust, as shown in the 

 measurements given above; it is, moreover, of a uniform 

 greenish yellow, not darker towards the base, as is usually 

 the case in J. noctua. The tarsi and toes are nearly bare in 

 my type specimen, owing to its having been tied by the leg 

 when used for catching small birds ; the toes thus appear 

 to he proportionately longer than is the case with the average 

 Civetta, but I have noticed that the relative length of the toes 

 is subject to individual variation in these small Owls, In 

 my specimen the claws are somewhat thickened and obtuse, 

 the natural consequence of iife in captivity. 



But what is more important, I think, than any of the 

 previous differential characters noted,' is the obvious fact 

 that the tone and the pattern or style of the coloration of 

 the plumage is absolutely different from that in A. noctua, 

 and, I may add, in any other species of that and allied 

 genera. Thus in A. ckiaradue the light-coloured spots ou 

 both remiges and rectrices, which form transverse bands 

 in other small Owls, arc replaced by longitudinal bands 

 formed by the white margin of the outer and inner webs of 

 those feathers. This character is well shown in the figures 

 (1 and 2, p. (!) of the outspread wings of the second example 

 of A. chiaradiee and of one of its co-nestlings, a normal 

 A. noctua, which T owe to the kindness of Mr. Vallon. 



In my first specimen of A. ckiaradue the wing- and fail- 

 feathers, especially the latter, are rather damaged ; but the 

 distinctive features are clear. These feathers are of a dark 

 umber- brown and shew no trace of those lighter and darker 



