BARN-OWL. 



151 



Of the climatic variations of the Barn-Owl less is known than of those 

 of the other Owls. The varieties of the Barn-Owl which occur on the 

 American continent have been ably classified by Ridgway ; but, although 

 Sharpe has collected an array of facts on the subject, occupying no fewer 

 than fifty pages of Rowley's 'Ornithological Miscellany,' no one has yet 

 attempted in any way to classify the varieties of this bird which occur in 

 the Old World. 



Of the three forms found in the British Islands, the rufous southern form 

 is the commonest^ and is well figured in Gould's ' Birds of Great Britain ' 

 (i. pi. xxxviii.). The pale eastern form and the dark western form are 

 both figured in Dresser's 'Birds of Europe' (v. pi. 302); but a better 

 figure of the latter may be found in Rowley's ' Ornithological Miscellany' 

 (i. pi. X.). 



