NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BERMUDAS. IQ 



thirteen and a half inches in breadth. The upper parts 

 were grey inclining to light ash, the lower parts very dis- 

 tinctly marked with transverse lines of light brown, the four 

 external feathers of the tail were marked with white in the 

 manner described by Wilson, but the central feathers were 

 imperfect, one only (black with a very slight touch of white 

 near the tip) remaining. 



January 2yrd, 1847. — Mr. William Gosling informs me 

 that in the month of January or February, 1840, he shot 

 " two White Crows " among the mangrove trees of Hungry 

 Bay, on the south shore of these islands. He described 

 these birds as being perfectly white, standing about three 

 feet three inches in height, with no crest, the bill yellow, 

 legs black. The dorsal train was wanting. This informa- 

 tion was corroborated by Mr. Charles Fozard, who saw the 

 birds at the time. 



There can be no doubt that these were the great 

 American White Heron (Ardea egrettd) of Audubon and 

 Wilson, and the circumstance of their being found in the 

 islands affords another proof of the extraordinary power 

 of flight possessed by many of the migratory birds of the 

 American continent. 



February 2nd, 1847. — Examined a beautiful specimen of 

 the Otus vulgaris, or Long-eared Owl. 



This bird had been killed a few hours previous, and sent 

 to Dr. Cole by the sergeant in charge at Gibbs Hill, being 

 the third shot there within the last four months. 



Length, fourteen inches ; breadth, thirty-seven and a 

 half inches ; third primary the longest. Lower portion of 

 the facial disk (from the ears to the chin), pure white, 

 edged externally with a broad band of deep black ; the 



