154 TAWNY OWL. 



back. Greater and lesser under wing coverts, dull white, 

 barred with pale brown; tail, pale rufous grey speckled with 

 dark brown, and barred, but faintly, on the outer webs with 

 the same: the two middle feathers are nearly plain, and rufous; 

 the tip white; underneath it is dull white, barred with pale 

 brown; tail coverts, as the back; under tail coverts, dull white 

 barred with rufous brown, the shafts of the feathers brown; 

 legs, almost entirely covered with yellowish white or grey 

 feathers, spotted with brown; toes, dark yellow or flesh-coloured, 

 and rough; claws, horn-coloured, with black tips, and not very 

 much hooked. 



The female chiefly differs in size, and is less tawny, so that 

 it was formerly thought to be a different species. Weight, 

 nineteen ounces ; length, one foot three to one foot five inches. 



The wings expand to the width of three feet, and upwards. 



The young are at first covered with grey down. The young 

 female assumes a rufous tinge, the tail is scarcely barred, and 

 the bars on the wings are narrower than in the adult birds. 

 The young male resembles the female for the first two years. 

 A variety with the parts light ash grey, which are usually 

 brown, was met with in 1848, at Pensax, near Worcester. It 

 had previously been remarked in the nest. 



