140 STRIGID^E. 



counties of England, but has not been recognised by prac- 

 tical ornithologists as existing in Ireland. It occurs also 

 in the northern counties of England, but is more rare in 

 Scotland. Mr. Low includes it among the birds of Orkney 

 that are seen in summer, but not in the winter. It in- 

 habits Scandinavia, Lapland, Russia, the wooded countries 

 of the European continent, and is found in Spain, Italy, 

 Sicily, and Algeria ; it was seen by Mr. Strickland as far to 

 the southward and eastward as Smyrna. M. Temminck 

 includes this Owl in his Catalogue of the Birds of Japan. 



The adult male has the head large ; the beak whitish 

 horn colour : the eyes large and full ; the irides dark blue, 

 almost black : the facial disk greyish white, defined by a 

 dark brown marginal line ; top of the head, neck, back, 

 and wings, a mixture of ash grey, mottled with two shades 

 of brown ; a descending line of white spots at the edge of 

 the scapulars, and another on the edge of the wing-coverts ; 

 wing-primaries barred with dull white and dark brown, the 

 wings not reaching to the middle of the tail ; upper surface 

 of the tail-feathers barred with two shades of brown, the 

 central pair of feathers being the most uniform in colour. 

 The under surface of the body greyish white, mottled and 

 streaked longitudinally with pale and dark brown ; under 

 tail-coverts white ; under surface of tail-feathers greyish 

 white, barred transversely with reddish brown ; legs and 

 toes covered with short greyish white feathers ; claws horn 

 white at the base, becoming darker towards the tip. The 

 whole length about fifteen inches. 



The females are larger, and much more ferruginous or 

 tawny in the general colour of their plumage. Young 

 males are for a considerable time, probably till their second 

 autumn, similar in colour to the females. 



