148 STRIGID^l. 



feathers, and lays two white eggs. When the hunters are 

 shooting grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the 

 report of the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird 

 being killed, to pounce down upon it, though it may be 

 unable from its size to carry it off. It is also known to 

 hover round the fires made by the natives at night." 



The following description is from a specimen killed in 

 Lapland, and presented to the Museum of the Zoological 

 Society by Captain Everett: The beak is white; the 

 irides straw-yellow ; facial disk dull white, bounded on 

 the sides by a semilunar dark purplish brown patch ex- 

 tending from the ears downwards ; the head, back of the 

 neck, and upper part of the shoulders, mottled with dusky 

 black and dull white ; back and wings dark umber brown ; 

 lower part of the back barred with dull white ; tertials 

 elongated, loose, and downy in texture, covering great 

 part of the wing, and barred alternately with dusky 

 brown and white ; upper surface of tail-feathers dusky 

 brown, with six or seven narrow bars of dull white, and 

 a broader terminal band of the same colour. Chin dusky ; 

 throat dull white ; across the upper part of the breast a 

 broad band of dull white ; breast, belly, and under tail- 

 coverts, dull white, with numerous narrow transverse bars 

 of dusky brown ; under surface of tail-feathers barred al- 

 ternately with greyish brown and dull white ; the tail 

 long ; tarsi and toes covered with short feathers of grey- 

 ish white ; claws white at the base, tipped with bluish 

 black. 



The whole length of the bird is about seventeen inches. 



The female differs from the male in being somewhat 

 larger in size, and the plumage is lighter in colour. 



