Tengmalms Owl, 75 



The migrations of this small Owl mainly consist in its coming down from 

 the mountains into the plains, in the autumn, in search of food; it appears in tlie 

 north of German}' about the same time as the Woodcock, and altliough some 

 individuals go further to the south, there are no instances of its having crossed to 

 the African side of the Mediterranean. Lord Lilford states that he received "five 

 of this species alive from Helsingfors in the sunniier of iHHH. I did not notice 

 that their habits differed from those of other Wood (Jwls in captivity, except that 

 they were much less active and savage than some Hawk-Owls received in the 

 same consignment. They were voracious feeders, and great bathers, and seemed 

 to be in no way inconvenienced by bright sunlight. The chief peculiarit)' of 

 these birds was their cry, which, as mentioned by Wheelwright, is a ver}- musical, 

 long-drawn whistle, quite unlike the iiote of an}- of the numerous Owls with 

 -whom I have the honour of personal acquaintance. Although these little Owls 

 seem to bear captivity well, and did not exhaust themselves b)' struggling to 

 escape, I lost them all within two }-ears, and vainly tried to discover any cause 

 for their death." 



In shape Tengmalm's Owl is a Tawny Owl in miniature, having a very large 

 head, with complete facial disks and ruff. The plumage is ver}' soft and full ; 

 the feathers are broadly oblong and rounded at their tips ; wings long, broad, 

 and rounded ; tail of moderate length, arched, and rounded ; the tarsi are .short, 

 and together with the toes, are profusely covered with soft, down}- feathers. The 

 general colour of the upper parts is greyish-brown, tinged with olivaceous ; the 

 feathers of the head have each a central oblong white spot ; those of the hind 

 neck are similarly marked with larger white spots, some of which form a semi- 

 circular baud ; the scapulars have round white spots towards the end, and some 

 of the dorsal feathers and wang-coverts have single white spots on the outer web: 

 the wings are barred with white spots, as is also the tail. The lower parts are 

 yellowish-white, longitudinally streaked with brown. Beak 3-ellow, black at the 

 base ; claws black ; irides yellow. 



There is no difference in the plumage of the two sexes ; length eight and a 

 half to nine inches. In some species of Owl, such as those belonging to the 

 eenus Asio, it has been discovered that the orifices of the ears differ on either 

 side in shape and size. In Tengmalm's Owl this asymmetry is ven- remarkable 

 and even extends to the bones of the skull, which are unaffected in the other 

 Owls. 



