ASIO. STRIX. 67 



Man. d'Ornith. i. 102. Asio Otus, Mottled Tufted-Owl, 

 MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 453. 



29. AsiO BRACHYOTUS. STREAKED TUFTED-OWL. 



Tufts inconspicuous, projecting about half an inch beyond 

 the plumage of the head ; upper parts light reddish-yellow, 

 with broad longitudinal streaks and transverse bars of deep 

 brown ; lower parts light reddish-yellow, with narrow longi- 

 tudinal brown streaks ; facial disk whitish in its anterior half, 

 pale yellowish-brown behind, the eye completely surrounded 

 with brownish-black ; middle tail-feathers with a brown 

 central patch in each of the light-coloured spaces between the 

 dark bands. Young similar to the adult. 



Male, 15, 38, llf, 1^, l T v, 1 T \, T V Female, 16, 40. 



Individuals are permanently resident, and others immigrant 

 from the north in October. In winter it is dispersed over 

 Scotland and England, and is frequently found in turnip fields, 

 or by the sides of hedges or brooks. Mr Hoy found it breed- 

 ing in Norfolk, and Sir William Jardine in Dumfriesshire. 

 The nest is placed on the ground, and the eggs, which are 

 pure white, are generally five. It feeds on small quadrupeds 

 and birds, and appears not to be altogether nocturnal. 



Short-eared Owl. Hawk Owl. Woodcock Owl. Mouse- 

 hawk. 



StrixUlula and brachyotus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. i. 60, 55. 

 Strix brachyotus, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 99. Asio brachy- 

 otus, Streaked Tufted-Owl, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 461. 



GENUS XVII. STRIX. SCREECH-OWL. 



Bill rather short, moderately stout, compressed toward the 

 end ; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight to the 

 edge of the cere, the tip decurved, acute ; lower mandible 

 with the angle long, the dorsal line short and somewhat con- 

 vex, the edges with a small sinus close to the rounded tip ; 

 the gape-line slightly sinuous. Mouth very wide ; tongue 

 narrow, sagittate and papillate at the base, the sides nearly- 

 parallel, the tip thin, bifid with two pointed lobes ; oesopha- 

 gus very wide, of uniform diameter ; stomach very large, 

 roundish, its muscular coat very thin, the inner smooth and 

 even ; pylorus marginate, or having one triangular promi- 

 nence ; intestine of moderate length, narrow ; coeca long, 

 narrow at the base, oblong toward the end ; cloaca extremely 



