TENGMALM'S OWL. 163 



close examination by the more thick and downy character 

 of the plumage, and by the length and abundance of the 

 feathers covering its short legs and toes, indicating the 

 natural defence against a low temperature afforded to a 

 bird that is an inhabitant of high northern latitudes. It 

 has no doubt been frequently mistaken for the Little Owl, 

 and probably obtained in this country more frequently 

 than it has been recorded; since, according to M. Tem- 

 minck, the Little Owl figured by Pennant in the folio 

 plates illustrating the first edition of his British Zoology, 

 though called passerina, is in reality a female of Tengmalmi. 

 Mr. Selby has in his collection a specimen killed at Mor- 

 peth in Northumberland, in 1812. In 1836, a specimen 

 recently shot was purchased in a poulterer's shop in Lon- 

 don ; and in May of the same year, Mr. John Lead- 

 beater of Brewer-street received a specimen for preserva- 

 tion which had been shot in Kent. There can be no 

 doubt, therefore, of the propriety of including this species 

 in a History of British Birds. 



This little Owl inhabits thick forests in Norway, Sweden, 

 Russia, and Germany ; occasionally in France, and the 

 northern parts of Italy ; but is in no country so abundant 

 as in North America, where, according to Sir John Rich- 

 ardson, it has a wide range, including all the woody coun- 

 try from Great Slave Lake to the United States, but is 

 most plentiful on the banks of the Saskatchewan. " It is 

 strictly nocturnal in its habits, and is so much dazzled by 

 the light of the sun, when it accidentally wanders abroad 

 in the day, as to become stupid ; and it may then be easily 

 caught by the hand. Its cry in the night is a single me- 

 lancholy note, repeated at intervals of a minute or two ; 

 and it is one of the superstitious practices of the Indians 

 to whistle when they hear it. If the bird is silent when 

 thus challenged, the speedy death of the inquirer is au- 



M 2 



