LITTLE OWLS 



1923 



short. In having the nostrils pierced near the front of the cere, they are distin- 

 guished from an allied Indian owl known as Heteroglaux, in which the nostrils 

 occupy the middle of the cere. The wings are large, with the third and fourth 

 quills of nearly equal length, and the head is large and round. The five species of 

 this genus range from Europe and North Africa across Central Asia to China, and 

 also from the Mediterranean countries across Persia to India and Burma. The 

 common little owl (Carine nodua) is about the same size as Tengmalm's owl from 

 which it may be at once distinguished by its compact plumage, and is an occa- 

 sional straggler to the British Isles. The general color of the upper parts is brown 



owi,. 



(Two-fifths natural size.) 



mottled with oval white spots; the facial disc being grayish white, passing into 

 brown externally, while the greater portion of the under surface is whitish streaked 

 with brown, each feather on this aspect having a dark median line and light edges. 

 This form is found all over continental Europe except the extreme north, but its 

 extreme eastern limits are not as yet fully known. A desert-hunting variety or 

 species (C. glaux) differs by its paler coloration, the ground color of the upper parts 

 being rufous fawn, while the under surface is pure white streaked with rufous. 

 Moreover, while in one form the toes are but scantily covered with hair-like feath- 

 ers, in another they are thickly plumed. The pale desert form of the little owl in- 

 habits the countries to the south of the Mediterranean, except near Tangiers (where 

 the ordinary form occurs) ; and it also ranges into Northeastern Africa, and extends 



