RARER BRITISH BIRDS. 91 



equally rare ; and fortunate, indeed, is the British collector who 

 obtains a specimen of either killed in his native country. 



They may be at once distinguished by the facial circle in the 

 little Owl having the interior light brown, mottled or speckled 

 with darker brown and black ; the same part in Tengmalm's Owl 

 being white, except just at the base of the bill, where there 

 is a black spot, and by the feet, which have only a few strag- 

 gling feathers, or rather hairs, upon them in the former, while 

 in the latter they are thickly covered. 



The upper plumage of S. Tengmalmi is of a brownish liver 

 colour, dotted on the forehead with round yellowish white spots, 

 smallest on the forehead, and gradually becoming larger and 

 fewer on the back : on the scapulars they are, however, nearly 

 as numerous as on the crown. The quills have four spots of 

 the same colour on the inner and outer webs ; the secondaries 

 have two on their outer webs, and four or five on their inner 

 ones: the wing coverts have also a few small spots upon them. 

 The under surface has most of the feathers with black centres, 

 margined with the same colour as the spots on the back. The 

 tail is of the same colour as the back, with five bands of 

 yellowish white broken in the centres by the shaft, and a slight 

 streak of the same colour as the intermediate bands. The 

 orbit of the facial circle is blackish ; the feathers covering the 

 feet and legs, dirty white; length, eleven inches and a half. 

 According to Dr. Richardson, in the " Fauna Boreali America- 

 na," who quotes Mr. Hutchins, it builds its nest in fir trees, and 

 lays two eggs. In North America it is far from uncommon. 



We are aware it has been suggested by Continental writers, 

 that the Strix Passerina of English Authors is not the Strix 

 Passerina of Linnaeus ; but as this appears doubtful, we retain 

 the old synonyms. 



