62 BRITISH BIRDS. 



the latter; the breast and belly are pale yellow, 

 marked with dark longitudinal streaks, most nu- 

 merous on the breast : the legs and feet are covered 

 with feathers of a pale yellow ; claws much hooked, 

 and black : the wings are long, and extend beyond 

 the tail ; quills marked with alternate bars of a 

 dusky and pale brown ; the tail is likewise marked 

 with bars of the same colours, and the middle 

 feathers are distinguished by a dark spot in the 

 centre of the yellow space ; the tip white. Of 

 several of these birds, both male and female, with 

 which this work has been favoured, both sexes had 

 the upright tufts or ears ; in one which was alive, 

 they were very conspicuous, and appeared more 

 erect while the bird remained undisturbed ; but 

 when frightened, were scarcely to be seen : in the 

 dead birds they were hardly discernible. 



Pennant seems to have been the first who de- 

 scribed this beautiful species, which he supposed to 

 be a bird of passage, as it visits us only in the 

 latter part of the year, and disappears in the spring. 

 It has been known to breed in Northumberland, 

 the young having been taken before they were 

 able to fly. It flies by day, and sometimes is seen 

 in companies : twenty-eight were once counted in 

 a turnip field in November.* It is found chiefly 

 in wooded or mountainous countries : its food is 

 principally field mice. 



* Communicated by the late Thomas Penrice, Esq., of Yarmouth; 

 but differently accounted for by Montagu, by which it would appear 

 they must have been attracted by immense numbers of mice, on 

 which they prey. 



