BARN OWL 
WHITE OWL, SCREECH OWL 
Strix flammea 
Arabic, Boma buda 
Plumage of upper-parts a tawny yellow, mottled, speckled, 
and pencilled with delicate grey, black and white ; face white, 
as are the under-parts; individuals vary in being lighter or 
darker ; buffish-white on chest, feet pinkish, beak yellowish. 
Entire length, 13-5 inches. 
E1ruHEr of the two last English names are perhaps 
in this case more suitable than the first, as barns 
in Egypt are scarce, whilst this owl is common, 
and is met with in temples and tombs fairly 
frequently. 
In the past it must always have been a common 
bird, as it is one of the few quite easily identified 
birds used in hieroglyphics (in spite of which, to 
my astonishment, in a recent work on Egypt this 
owl is called the Horned Owl). 
The Barn Owl has practically a world-wide range, 
being found not only in Europe but Africa, Asia, 
Australia, and America, and though examples from 
certain localities do show some variation in plumage, 
it is still always unmistakably the Barn Owl. It 
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