RAPTORES. 



LITTLE OWL. 



149 



STRIGIDM. 



THE LITTLE OWL. 



Noctua passerina. 



Strix passerina, Little Owl, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 270. 



MONTAGU, Omith. Diet. 



BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i . p. 69. 



FLEM. Brit. An. p. 58. 



Noctua Little Night Owl, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. voL i. p. 107. 



JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 94. 



nudipes, GOULD, Birds of Europe, pt. xii. 

 Strix passerina, Chouette clievtche, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 92. 



NOCTUA. Generic Cliaracters. Head not furnished with tufts of feathers. 

 Beak curved and bending from the base ; cere short ; nostrils oval. Auditory 

 opening large ; facial disk not well defined. Wings large ; the third and fourth 

 quill-feathers nearly equal in length. Legs and toes covered with feathers. 

 Claws curved and sharp. 



THIS LITTLE OWL, and that which is next to follow, can 

 only be considered as occasional visitors to this country, 

 though both have now been taken several times, and most 

 of those instances will be here mentioned. There is reason 



