LITTLE NIGHT OWL. 269 



young one. It is that represented by Fig. 2, and named Strix Califor- 



nica. 



Female. Plate CCCCXXXII. Fig. 2. 



Bill, feet, and claws coloured as in the male. The plumage is also in 

 all respects similar, only the upper parts are of a deeper tint, being um- 

 ber-brown, the white spots lai'ger, especially on the hind neck, and 

 generally margined with dusky. 



Length to end of tail 11 inches ; bill along the ridge \^^ ; wing 

 from flexure 7^ ; tail 3| ; tarsus 2^^ ; hind toe ^^, its claw ?*^ ; second 

 toe ^°|, its claw || ; third toe \^, its claw /^ ; fourth toe i% its claw /g. 



The Burrowing Owl probably belongs to the same section as Strix 

 passerina, and ^S*. acadica, which it resembles in the form of its bill, the 

 aperture of the ear, and the disposition of the colours of the plumage. 

 The partially bare tarsi and toes appear to be the result of denudation 

 caused by their habits in frequenting sandy and muddy places. 



LITTLE NIGHT OWL. 



Strix passerina, Gmel. 



PLATE CCCCXXXII. Female. 



The specimen from which my drawing of this bird was taken, was 

 procured near Pictou in Nova Scotia, by my young friend Thomas 

 M'CuLLocH, Esq., who assured me that it is not very uncommon there. 

 How far southward it may proceed in winter I have not been able to 

 ascertain ; nor have I ever met with it in any part of the United States. 

 It is also said to be abundant in Newfoundland, and not rare in Labra- 

 dor. My specimen is a female, and was shot in winter. 



Stkix passerina, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 133. 



Chouette Cheveche, Steix passerina, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. p. 92. 



Female. Plate CCCCXXXIL Fig. 3. 



Bill short, stout, broader than high at the base, compressed toward 

 the end ; upper mandible with the dorsal line nearly straight to the end 

 of the cere, then decurved, the ridge convex, the sides nearly erect and 

 moderately convex, the tip decurved and acute ; nostrils rather small, 

 elliptical ; the membrane tumid behind them ; lower mandible with the 

 angle very wide, the dorsal line ascending and convex, the edges sharp, 



