34 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



Ulula rufipes. 



Strix rufipes, King, in Zoological Journal, Vol. iii. p. 426. 



I obtained a specimen of this bird from a party of Fuegians in the extreme 

 southern islands of Tierra del Fuego. Owls are not uncommon in this country, 

 and as small birds are not plentiful, and the lesser rodents extremely scarce, it at 

 first appears difficult to imagine on what they feed. The following fact, perhaps, 

 explains the circumstance : Mr. Bynoe, the surgeon to the " Beagle," killed an 

 owl in the Chonos Archipelago, where the nature of the country is very similar 

 to that of Tierra del Fuego, and, on opening its stomach, he found it filled with 

 the remains of large-sized crabs : I conclude, therefore, that these birds here 

 likewise subsist chiefly on marine productions. 



Sub.-Fam.— STRIGINiE. 



1. Strix flammea. Linn. 



I obtained a specimen of a white owl from Bahia Blanca in Northern Pata- 

 gonia, and Mr. Gould remarks concerning it, that he only retains the name of 

 aS*. flammea provisionally, until all the white owls, from various countries, shall 

 have been subjected to a careful examination. Mr. Gould suspects, that when 

 this is effected, the South American white owl will prove to be specifically 

 distinct from that of Europe. 



2. Strix punctatissima. G. R. Gray. 



Plate IV. 



S. supra nigricans, flavo subnebulosa, minute albo-punctatissima, macula alba ad apicem 

 plumce, cujusvis; subtus fulva, fasciis interruptis nigricantibus ; caudd dorso conco- 

 lore, nigricanti-fasciata, apice alba ; disco faciali castaneo-rufo nigricanti-nebuloso 

 circumdato, pogoniis internis albis, scapis nigris ; pedibus longis, infra genu 

 plumosis ; torso reliquo digitisque subpilosis. 



Long. tot. l^j; aim, %\; caudce, 4j ; tarsi, 2^. 



Colour. — Head and feathers within facial disc, glossy ferruginous brown, those 

 forming the margin of it, same coloured, with their tips dark brown. Back 



