Birds of Gran Canaria. 593 



flammea (jraciUrostris. I have not been able to compare 

 Barn-Ovvls from Gran Canaria with the type specimen from 

 Fuerteventura, so am unable to state whether the bird found 

 in Gran Canaria is similar to the form found in the Eastern 

 Islands. Two badly stuffed examples in the Las Palmas 

 Museum certainly struck me as having very slender bills. 



Asio oTus CANARiENsis. Long-cared Owl. 



Asio otus canariensis Madarasz^ Orn. Monatsb. 1901, 

 p. 54* ; Hartert, Nov. Zool. 1901, p. 329 ; Thanner, Orn. 

 Jahrb. xxi. p. 89 (1910). 



«-^. c? (? <i (? ? . Telde. 9th Feb. '10. 



The Canarian Long-eared Owls differ from the European 

 species Asio otus in two essential points : — 



(1) They are considerably darker on the upper parts and 



to a lesser degree on the under side. 



(2) A marked difference is at once noticeable in the size 

 of the birds, Asio otus canuriensis being the smaller. 

 The wing-measurements of the eight examples which 

 I have compared are all 1-1^ inciies shorter than in 

 typical examples of Asio otus. 



Madarasz in his original description claims another cha- 

 racter, i. e. tliat ''tiie light portion of the base of the primary 

 quill is divided in the centre of the inner vane by means of 

 a dark band.'' This character is not in the least borne out 

 by the examples which I have examined. 



The Long-eared Owl is far more plentiful than the preceding 

 species. The five specimens from Telde were all obtained at 

 once and sent to me in the flesh. I have also seen one at 

 Tafira. It breeds in the island, and Herr von Thanner men- 

 tions one which built a nest in a bushy young palm-tree in 

 a swamp at Maspalomas. In 1911 Mr. Meade- Waldo, 

 writing to me, mentions having flushed as many as seven 

 birds together in the Euphorbia canariensis. The Owls are 

 fond of roosting in the high palm-trees before the branches 

 are cut. 



