case 0/ Athene chiaradire. 13 



individually and in different ways distinct from the usual 

 A. noctua. I have compared them carefully with a good 

 series of adults of both sexes from different parts of Italy, 

 and found none like them. 



The male is a large bird, bigger than the average adult 

 male A. noctua, whilst its head looks rather small, at least 

 in the mounted specimen. The coloration of the brown 

 upper parts and of the blotches on the lower parts is singularly 

 light, nearly isabellinc. For this reason I have compared 

 it with a specimen of the so-called A. glaux from Tunis ; but it 

 is quite different and much lighter : indeed I cannot consider 

 the North-African bird distinct from our ordinary Civetta, 

 and I have specimens from Tuscany that seem perfectly 

 similar to that from Tunis on the most minute comparison. 

 The male from Pizzocco has hardly any white on its facial disk, 

 which is grey ; and, lastly, it is remarkable for the great 

 number, large size, and white colour of the blotches on the 

 top of the head, and for the extraordinary width of the 

 rectrices, the outer ones (not the broadest) measure 22 mm., 

 the usual width being about 16 mm. in the adult males of 

 A. noctua. 



The female is not less remarkable, but quite different : she 

 is small and very dark, but the brown of the upper parts and 

 the big blotches of the ventral feathers are tinged with rufous, 

 and differ from the dark umber brown of A. chiarad'ue, while 

 they are considerably darker than in the average A. noctua : 

 the facial disk is remarkably so — brown, greyish, with small 

 light spots, but no white. The top of the head is as pro- 

 fusely spotted as in the male, more so than in the average 

 Civetta, but the mesial light spots of each feather are narrow 

 and elongated, and, although tinged with rufous, are very 

 conspicuous on the dark brown ground-colour. Finally, the 

 tail-feathers arc not unusually broad. 



Both these birds, from which a progeny of black-eyed 

 Civette have sprung, had, as 1 have already mentioned, 

 yellow irides. The cry was that of the well-known. A. 

 noctua, and From Mr. Yallon's observations the habits were 

 similar ; he noticed an extreme rapidity in their flight. 



