150 



STRIGID.E. 



The } r oung birds, before their first moult, differ very much 

 from the adult, and might very easily be taken for different 

 species ; they are in every respect smaller than the parent 

 birds, measuring only nine inches in length ; the legs are 

 covered with a more feathery substance, in consequence of 

 those feathers being short. The beak is yellowish-grey, the 

 iris yellow, the hair, and bristle-like feathers of the face 

 black and dusky, with white roots ; the frame around the 

 face but very indistinctly coffee-coloured, a little spotted with 

 white over the eyes ; the whole bird is coffee-coloured, some- 

 what paler below than above ; the belly and feet whitish, 

 intermixed with brown, and the dirty-white vent-feathers 

 tipped with brown. On the quills and tail-feathers are a 

 few small, round, and three-cornered white spots which form, 

 on the closed wings and tail, four cross bars. The first 

 quill- feather is serrated ; the soles of the feet yellowish-grey. 

 The feathering of this Owl is particularly soft and loose, 

 and it erects the feathers of the face occasionally to a 

 considerable extent. 



The temper of this bird is milder than that of the Little 

 Owl, although he resembles it in outward appearance so much. 

 All day long it sits on a branch, or in a hole of a tree, 

 asleep, and does not move on the approach of man, but looks 

 at him with half-closed- eyes, and only squeezes itself closer 

 against the tree on which it perches. When in confinement, 

 Tengmalm's Owl is easily tamed, even when taken in the 

 adult state. It assumes very amusing positions when caged, 

 and erects the feathers of its face in such a manner as almost 

 to form blunt ears, which it certainly does not possess in 

 reality. Its flight is lighter and softer than that of the 

 Little Owl, in consequence of the longer and broader wings, 

 and bears most resemblance to that of the Scops-eared Owl. 



The notes which the Owl at present under consideration 

 utters are, a repeated call of kew, kew, followed by an equally 



