G8 



claw li incli ; foot covered with thin bristly hairs, feathered to foot. The 

 feathers in disc which encircles the eyes, are of a dark grey colour, of a thin 

 bristly appearance before the ears, but behind the ears there is a collar of soft 

 white feathei-s from the top of ears tinder the chin, forming the outer edge of 

 disc round the eyes ; feathers from beak, over top of head to back, dark brown 

 centre with bright bufi" margins ; coverlets of wings dull brown with buff 

 flakes ; primaiies of wings and tail dull brown with buff or dirty white bar 

 across ; breast brown centre with broad buff margins, the margins getting 

 lighter and broader as they go down the body to abdomen, which is yellowish ; 

 legs light mealy colour, buff and brown. For the above we are indebted to 

 Mr. Purdie, Curator of the Dvmedin Museum. 



However tedious these descriptions may appear, they ai-e presented in 

 order that we may arrive at the true history of the bird ; there can be no doubt 

 as to the specific identity of the owls described, there may be slight variances 

 in shades of colour, but certainly not more than would be observed in a very 

 small party of human beings that might be assembled from any English 

 village or petty town. Here, doubts are entertained by some, not only whether 

 the large owl is the bird which has been named A. albifacies, but also, whether 

 it is other than a large specimen of the moi'e-pork, A thene Novce Zelandioi ; the 

 former of these doubts may possibly be removed by a perusal of the foregoing 

 descriptions and a careful comparison with the specimens that are accessible, 

 whilst it appears curious that the latter opinion should be seriously enter- 

 tained, when it is considered that in order to sustain it a bird must exhibit a 

 total change in habits, voice, to a certain extent locality, and an increase in 

 size to at least one-half. 



No. G. — Strix parvissima, EUman. {Zool, 1861.) 

 Little Owl. 



Amongst the desiderata of our public collections the Little Owl has for 

 some time held a place ; many doubt its existence, few have seen it, still fewer 

 have preserved any note or observation concerning it. From the information 

 that has been gleaned about this rare bird, it would appear that its habitat 

 must be the bushes about the E.angitata E,iver. 



One correspondent saw it on the bank of a creek at no great distance from 

 Moimt Peel Forest, it- was between the roots of a large tree; observation was 

 drawn to it by the proceedings of several tuis, who were persecuting it to the 

 best of their ability ; it was whilst its attention was engaged by these noisy 

 assailants that the bird was secured. It was about the size of a kingfisher, 

 and its captor felt quite certain of its being an adult specimen ; it was carried 

 home to be shown as a curiosity, and was afterwards liberated. Unlike the 

 more-pork, when captured it was exceedingly gentle. 



Another specimen was procured by a gentleman in one of the bushes far 



