496 ATHENE 



ATHENE, Boie, 1822. 



706. LITTLE OWL. 

 ATHENE NOCTUA. 



Athene noctua (Scop.), Ann. i. Hist. Nat. p. 22 (1772) ; (Naum.), i. 

 p. 493, Taf. 48,%. 1. ; (Newton), i. p. 178 ; Gould, B. of Gt, Brit. i. 

 pi. 37 ; Dresser, v. p. 357, pi. 317 ; (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. ii. 

 p. 133 ; Saunders, p. 301 ; Lilford, i. p. 102, pi. 48 ; A. nudipes 

 (Nils.) Orn. Suec. i. p. 68 (1817) ; (Gould), B. of E. i. pi. 48 ; (Hewit- 

 son), i. p. 67, pi. xix. fig. 3. 



Chouette chevfohe, French ; Mocho, Portug. ; Mochudlo, Span. ; 

 Cftvetta, Ital. ; Steinkauz, German ; Minervas Ugle, Dan. : 

 Stecnuil, Dutch ; Sytscb-domovoi, Russ. : MouJca, Moorish. 



( ad. (Germany). Upper parts brown, the head striped, the other parts 

 mottled and spotted with white, the head tinged with fulvous ; quills 

 barred and spotted with white ; tail barred with fulvous white ; no facial 

 disk ; forehead, eyebrow, malar region and throat white ; sides of neck 

 and lower throat brown, mottled with white ; under parts white, below the 

 breast streaked and mottled with brown ; lower abdomen, thighs, and 

 under tail-coverts fulvous white ; bill greenish yellow ; feet greyish 

 yellow, sparsely covered with hairy bristles ; iris yellow. Culmen 0*65, 

 wing 6'0, tail 2'9, tarsus 1*1 inch. Female similar but larger. Young 

 tinged with rufous. 



Hob. Continental Europe, south to the Mediterranean ; a 

 rare straggler to England and Sweden ; Morocco. 



Frequents gardens, orchards, and old buildings, and also is 

 found in villages, farmyards, etc., where not molested. It is 

 partly diurnal in its habits, though chiefly nocturnal. Its note 

 is a monotonous cio, cu-cu or kuwitti, JcuiUi, in the spring con- 

 siderably modulated, and it is said to utter a mewing call. It 

 feeds on small birds, mice, large insects, etc., and is generally 

 looked on as a useful bird. It makes no regular nest, but 

 places its eggs in a hole in an old wall or a rock, or in buildings, 

 in a hollow tree, or in a hole in the ground. The eggs, 3 to 5 

 in number, are usually deposited in May, and are roundish in 

 shape, and in size average 1*35 by 1*12. 



707. SUBSP. ATHENE GLAUX. 



Athene glaux (Savigny), Syst. Ois. de 1'figypte, &c. p. 45 (1810) ; Dresser, 

 v. p. 367, pi. 318 ; (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. ii. p. 135 ; A. persica, 

 (Vieill.), Nouv. Diet. vii. p. 26 (1817); A. meridionals; (Risso), 

 Hist. Nat. Eur. Merid. iii. p. 32 (1826). 



