The White or Barn Owl. 



59 



NvcTRA, S/('phens.—'Ba.c\'a\ disk incomplete. Legs ruul iocs thickly covered 

 with feathers. 



vSuRNiA, Diinicril. — Facial disk nearly obsolete. Legs short and with the toes 



thickly feathered. Tail long and graduated. 

 Scops, Saviony. — Facial disk incomplete above the eyes. Head with two tufts 



of feathers. Legs rather long, feathered in front; toes naked. Of 



small size. 



Bubo, Dumiril. — Facial disk incomplete about the eyes. Head with two tufts 

 of feathers. Legs and toes covered with feathers. Of large size. 



Familv—S TRIGWyE. 



White or Barn Owl. 



Striv llavnnca, LiNN. 



THIS beautiful Owl ranges throughout the world iu the tropical and temperate 

 zones. It is not found in the north, and in the British Isles becomes scarce 

 in Scotland. It resides with us throughout the 3-ear, but some of our home-bred 

 Owls may leave us for the south in the winter, at which time we also receive an 

 immigration from the Continent, as is proved b}- the dead bodies of Bam Owls 

 having been found hanging frozen in the nets stretched along the sands in the 

 South-eastern counties to capture passing flocks of ducks and waders. 



The Barn Owl varies greatly in size and in colour iu different parts of the world ; 

 all the foreign varieties are now regarded as only local races of our English bird. 

 Kven in England great variations are met with from the typical form, including 

 light and dark birds, and those intermediate in colour. The plumage of the 

 ordinary tj^pe is flame-yellow on the upper parts, speckled with grey, and ^rith 

 spots of white and black ; the primaries are indistinctly barred with dusky bro%\-n. 



