TAWNY OWL. 267 



with ochraceous or reddish ; in the most common 

 state the plumage is of a yellowish umber brown, 

 the feathers on the crown and nape deep umber 

 brown in the centre, on the back each feather is 

 longitudinally streaked along the shaft with umber 

 brown, and marked across with delicate irregular 

 bars of the same colour. The feathers immediately 

 lying over the wings are pale ochraceous, dark 

 along the centre, and with the outer webs pure 

 white, which forms a conspicuous longitudinal 

 streak when the bird is at rest ; the feathers com- 

 posing the wings have irregular markings of the 

 same tint, and somewhat same distribution with 

 those on the back ; the coverts are tipped with a 

 large white spot on their outer webs, secondaries 

 indistinctly barred with wood brown and ochra- 

 ceous ; the quills with deep wood brown and 

 yellowish white on the outer webs, pale reddish 

 brown on the inner. The tail is rounded, indis- 

 tinctly barred and mottled with wood and pale 

 reddish brown, the light markings palest on the 

 outer feathers. 



The ruff is somewhat imperfect above the eyes, 

 but the disk is ample, grayish white, tinted with 

 ochraceous and reddish. The under parts are 

 white, or yellowish white ; the feathers longitudi- 

 nally streaked with deep umber brown, and crossed 

 with occasionally interrupted bars of the same 

 colour, yellowish white and ochraceous. Tarsi 

 and feet thickly feathered as far as the last scales 



