357 



ATHENE NOCTUA. 



(LITTLE OWL.) 



Strix noctua, Eetz. Faun. Suec. p. 85 (1800). 



Strix nudipes, Nilss. Orn. Suec. i. p. 68 (1817). 



Strix psilodactyla, Nilss. Skand. Faun. 1st ed. p. 88 (1824). 



Surnia noctua, Bonap. Osserv. Eegn. Anim. del Bar. Cuvier, p. 48 (1830). 



Syrnia psilodactyla, Macgill. Brit. B. iii. p. 417 (1840). 



Little Owl, English ; Chouette cheveche, French ; Steenuil, Dutch ; Kvikeugle, Steenugle, 

 Danish ; Sirinn Domovoi, Eussian ; Mochuelo, Cu-cu, Spanish ; Civetta, Italian ; Mdcho, 

 Portuguese ; Cucca, Sicilian. 



<3 griseo-brunnescens, vis fulvescente tinctus : capite maculis aut lineis albis longitudinaliter striato : collo 

 postico albo transversim fasciato : dorso toto fasciis celatis albis transfasciato : tectricibus alarum 

 dorso concoloribus et eodem modo albo marmoratis : remigibus brunneis, fulvescenti-albo trans- 

 fasciatis : cauda. fulvescenti-brunnea, rufescente transfasciata. : facie albida, nigricanti-bruimeo lineata : 

 loris et supercilio albis : colli lateribus et gutture imo brunneo et albo variis : gula, alba : subtus albus, 

 paulld fulvescente lavatus, brunneo irregulariter striatus : cruribus fulvescenti- albis : subalaribus et 

 subcaudalibus fulvescenti-albis, paullo brunneo variis : rostro flavo, virescente tincto : pedibus cine- 

 rascenti-flavis : iride flava. 



2 paullo major, et fulvescenti-brunnea. 



Pull. fulvescenti-brunneus, maculis rotundatis albidis marmoratus : pileo anguste albido striolato. 



Adult Male. Above greyish brown, the head irregularly striped with white and tinged with fulvous ; back 

 of the neck, back, and scapulars irregularly mottled with white, owing to the half-concealed white 

 spots on the feathers ; rump similarly coloured, but slightly tinged with fulvous ; wing-coverts coloured 

 like the back, but more distinctly marked with round wliite spots ,• quills brownish, transversely banded 

 with fulvous white, the outer edges of the feathers spotted more or less distinctly with white ; tail 

 brown, slightly inclining to rufescent, barred transversely with fulvous white ; no facial disk ; forehead 

 and eyebrow, as well as the malar region and the throat, white ; feathers in front of the eye long and 

 developed into bristles, very lax, and of a black colour ; cheeks whitish, streaked with blackish ; sides 

 of the neck and lower part of the throat brown, minutely mottled with white like the back ; upper part 

 of the breast white, forming a band across the chest ; rest of under surface of the body white, streaked 

 and mottled with dark brown ; lower part of the belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts fulvous white ; 

 under wing-coverts white, mottled with dark brown; bill yellow, slightly tinged with greenish; feet 

 greyish yellow; iris yellow. Total length 8 - 2 inches, culm. - 65, wing 6 - 0, tail 2 - 9, tarsus 1 - 1. 



Adult Female. A little larger than the male, inclining to fulvous brown but never so dark as in the latter. 

 Total length 9 inches, culm. 0-75, wing 6 - l, tail 3 - 0, tarsus l'l. 



Young. Dull fulvous brown, all the peculiarities of the adult being distinctly indicated, the whole plumage 

 somewhat washed with rufous. 



