142 MOTTLED OWL. 



lower side gray; horns (as they are usually called) very promi- 

 nent, each composed of ten feathers; increasing in length from 

 the front backwards, and lightest on the inside; face whitish, 

 marked with small touches of dusky, and bounded on each side 

 with a circlet of black; breast and belly white, beautifully varie- 

 gated with ragged streaks of black, and small transverse touches 

 of brown; legs feathered nearly to the claws, with a kind of 

 hairy down, of a pale brown colour; vent and under tail-coverts 

 white, the latter slightly marked with brown; iris of the eye a 

 brilliant golden yellow; bill and claws bluish horn colour. 



This was a female. The male is considerably less in size; the 

 general colours darker; and the white on the wing-coverts not 

 so observable. 



Hollow trees, either in the woods or orchard, or close ever- 

 greens, in retired situations, are the usual roosting places of this 

 and most of our other species. These retreats, however, are 

 frequently discovered by the Nuthatch, Titmouse, or Blue Jay, 

 who instantly raise the alarm ; a promiscuous group of feathered 

 neighbours soon collect round the spot, like crowds in the 

 streets of a large city, when a thief or murderer is detected; and 

 by their insults and vociferation oblige the recluse to seek for 

 another lodging elsewhere. This may account for the circum- 

 stance of sometimes finding them abroad during the day, on 

 fences and other exposed situations. 



