LITTLE OWL. 149 
RAPTORES. STRIGID A. 
THE LITTLE OWL. 
Noctua passerina. 
Strix passerina, Little Owl, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 270. 
Ss zi San ME Monracu, Ornith. Dict. 
3 ke huss Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol.i. p. 69. 
kA es aes Feo. Brit. An. p. 58. 
Noctua Little Night Owl, Se.By, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 107. 
me is 5 SS »  JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 94. 
59 ss MUUPES, 44 a5 » GouLp, Birds of Europe, pt. xii. 
Strix passerina, Chouette chevéche, TeEMM. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 92. 
Nocrua. Generic Characters.—Head not furnished with tufts of feathers. 
Beak curved and bending from the base ; cere short ; nostrils oval. Auditory 
opening large ; facial disk not well defined. Wings large ; the third and fourth 
quill-feathers nearly equal in length. Legs and toes covered with feathers. 
Claws curved and sharp. 
Tms Lirrie Owt, and that which is next to follow, can 
only be considered as occasional visitors to this country, 
though both have now been taken several times, and most 
of those instances will be here mentioned. There is reason 
