SYRNIA. SCOPS. 



61 



Man. d'Ornith. i. 86, Symia funerea, Hawk Day-Owl, Mac- 

 Gillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 404. 



22. SYRNIA NYCTEA. SNOWY DAY-OWL. 



Tail rather long, moderately rounded ; toes covered with 

 shaggy feathers ; plumage white, the head and back spotted, 

 the wings, tail, and lower parts barred with dusky-brown. 

 Young with large dark markings. 



Male, 23, 56, 17J, 1 T *> 2 i*> ITI> *iV Female, 26, 65. 



Some individuals are almost entirely white, while others 

 have the markings large. It appears to be resident in Shet- 

 land, and has been obtained in Orkney, on the mainland of 

 Scotland, and as far south as Yorkshire. It has also several 

 times been procured in Ireland. It was first described as Bri- 

 tish by Mr Bullock, but had previously been found in Shet- 

 land by Dr Lawrence Edmondston, who published, in 1822, a 

 detailed account of its habits. 



Snowy Owl. Harfang. Kat-yogle. 



Strix nyctea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 132. Strix nyctea, Temm. 

 Man. d'Ornith. i. 82. Syrnia nyctea, Snowy Day-Owl, Mac- 

 Gillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 407. 



23. SYRNIA PSILODACTYLA. BARE-TOED DAY-OWL. 



Toes covered with shaft-bristles, between which the scales 

 are apparent ; upper parts brown, the head with linear oblong, 

 the neck, back, and wings with roundish, the tail with four 

 bands of transverse, white spots ; lower parts yellowish -white, 

 with longitudinal brown spots. 



Male, 101 ..., 6 i |, 1J, ft, f|. 



Of very rare occurrence in Britain, and hitherto not found 

 in Scotland. It is said to be common on the Continent, but 

 not to extend northward beyond lat. 55. This species is dis- 

 tinguished from the only other one that resembles it, by having 

 the toes covered with bristles instead of feathers. 



Little Owl. Passerine Owl. 



Strix passerina, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 92 ; iii. 49. 

 Noctua nudipes, Gould. Birds of Eur. Syrnia psilodactyla, 

 Bare- toed Day-Owl, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 417. 



GENUS XIII. SCOPS. OWLET. 



This genus is composed of several small owls, agreeing 

 with Syrnia and Bubo, in having the conch simple, but dif- 

 fering from the former in having elongated tufts on the head, 



