DISTRIBUTION OF BARN-OWLS. 277 



Afterwards he admitted two more forms, S. adspersa, Brehm, and S. mar- 

 garitata, Paul v. Wiirtemburg. 



M. An adult male from Westphalia is very dark above, but still not 

 nearly so richly coloured as the preceding bird ; below, however, there is no 

 difference in the deep tint of the orange-buff, the whole of the underparts 

 being spotted with dark brown, most of the spots having a conterminous 

 white spot attacJied to them ; the ruff not so deeply coloured, nor are the 

 brown tips to the feathers so distinct ; face whiter, with a strong shade of 

 rufous, but not so deep as in the male bird from Silesia; bands on 

 primaries /w, on the tail/owr. Total length 12-6 inches, wing U'O, tail 5"1, 

 tarsus 2"35, middle toe ri5. 



Frisian Islands. Von Droste records it as a rare visitor to Borkum 

 (J. f. O. 1864, p. 423). 



Belgium. Common and breeding in this country (De Selys-Longchamps, 

 Faune Beige, p. 61). 



Holland. It is plentiful in this country, and breeds plentifully, to judge 

 by the large series of old and young birds contained in the Leiden Museum, 

 from the neighbourhood of that town. Schlegel figures the dark race in 

 his pretty series of plates in the ' Vogels van Nederland ' (pi. 41) ; but the 

 specimen seems to have a peculiarly light visage. In the illustration of 

 the head given by him in the ' Dieren van Nederland' (pi, 4. fig. 3), the 

 ordinary rufous tinge round the eye is exhibited. 



France. Degland and Gerbe say that of all the Owls it is the most 

 common resident in France (Orn. Eur. i. p. 133). The same is recorded of 

 it by Lemetteil, in his list of the Birds of the Department of the Seine- 

 Inferieure (i. p. 28). Messrs. Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye (Rich. 

 Orn. p. 87) mention that the young birds are always more rufous, but that 



2 p 2 



