340 



Adult Female (Uppland, Sweden, April 1871) . Head and neck light sandy rufous, each feather having a 

 broad black centre, and being marbled with that colour ; feathers on the crown black, marbled with 

 rufous on the margins; above each eye a conspicuous tuft of elongated feathers forming two large 

 horns, feathers round the facial disk rufous grey, barred with black ; bristles at the base of the bill 

 white, tipped with black ; upper parts generally reddish ochreous, each feather with the centre towards 

 the tip black, and marbled and barred with that colour; rump and upper tail-coverts light rusty red, 

 barred with black ; quills dull blackish, on the outer web barred with broad yellowish brown bars 

 finely vermiculated with black, and on the inner web similarly, but more conspicuously, barred, in 

 some the black portion dwindling down to comparatively narrow bands ; tail dull rufous yellow, barred" 

 and marbled with black ; throat white, the rest of the underparts sandy yellow, the feathers on the 

 former portion and on the breast with broad black centres, and indistinctly barred with black, those on 

 the rest of the underparts barred with black, some only having a black centre ; feathers covering the 

 legs more rufous than the rest of the underparts and less barred ; iris rich orange ; beak and claws 

 blackish horn. Total length 26 inches, culmen 2'7, wing 18'6, tail 1T5, tarsus 33. 



Adult Male. Differs from the female only in being smaller in size ; one I have before me from Sweden 

 measures — culmen 2 - 5, wing 18 - 0, tail 10 - 5, tarsus 34. 



Young emerging from the down plumage (fide Nilsson). Beak blackish horn, with the ridge of the maxilla 

 and edges of the mandible whitish ; iris saffron yellow ; feet pale yellow ; toes naked towards the tip, 

 lead-coloured ; claws similarly coloured, but horn-brown towards the tips ; above the eye a black spot, 

 before it a white one, and behind this a brown patch ; throat white ; quills blackish marked with grey 

 and rusty yellow ; body covered with dense grey down, barred with brown. 



Obs. This Owl varies considerably in size, not only according to sex, but also according to locality. The 

 smallest specimen which I possess is a male from Macedonia, which measures only — culmen 2 - 4, 

 wing 17 - 8, tail 11 "0, tarsus 29. In colour this specimen resembles others from Scandinavia, but is 

 darker and rather more rufous in tinge. I have not seen any of the pale variety which is said to 

 inhabit Greece, as other examples from that country which have passed through my hands were quite 

 as dark or darker than northern specimens. The measurements of the specimens I have examined 

 vary as follows : — Archangel, three specimens, all sexed as males, but I am inclined to think that they 

 must be females ; they measure — culmen 2 - 7-3 # 0, wing 18 - 8-20 - 0, tail 123-13 1, tarsus 2 - 9-37. 

 Sweden, two females measure — culmen 2 - 6 and 2"7, wing 19 - and 18 - 6, tail 11*3 and ll - 5, tarsus 3 1 

 and 3 - 3; and one male — culmen 2'5, wing 18 - 0, tail 10"5, tarsus 3*1. Southern France, one female 

 measures — culmen 2 - 4, wing 17'5, tail 10 - 4, tarsus 2'8. Greece, one male measures — culmen 24, 

 wing 17 - 8, tail H"0, tarsus 2 - 9. Bulgaria, one female measures — culmen 2'6, wing 18 - 2, tail 12 - 5, 

 tarsus 2 - 8. Dobrudscha, one female measures — culmen 2"5, wing 19 - 0, tail 12 - 0, tarsus 3"5 ; and 

 Astrachan, one male measures — culmen 2 - 2, wing 16 - 6, tail 104, tarsus 2 - 7. 



From the above it will be seen that the specimens from Archangel are the largest in size, that from Astrachan 

 being considerably the smallest. I regret that I have not got the measurements of any of the pale 

 varieties from the Ural ; but, speaking from memory, I can safely assert that they do not differ appre- 

 ciably, if at all, from the ordinary run of European specimens. 



In all these specimens the general colour of the plumage is very variable, some approaching slightly the 

 pale eastern form, and others being very dark and rufous. The darkest is the male bird above referred 

 to from Greece ; and I may add that the female specimen from Bulgaria is quite as light as most of the 

 northern examples. The lighest-coloured specimens in the series before me are those from Archangel ; 

 but they are not so light as the examples of the pale variety, so-called Bubo sibiricus, which I examined 

 when on the Continent this last month. 



