Class II. TAWNY OWL. 267 



Est illis strigibus nomen, sed nominis hujus 

 Causa quod horrenda stridere nocte solent. 



Ovid. Fast. VI. 135. 



This is the bird Shakespeare describes so 

 poetically in the Midsummer Night's Dream, 

 as the omen of death in the mouth of Puck. 



Now the wasted brands do glow, 



Whilst the scritch-owl scritching loud 

 Puts the wretch that lies in woe 



In remembrance of a shroud. 



The female of this species weighs nineteen Descrip- 

 ounces; the length is fourteen inches; the 

 breadth two feet eight inches. The irides are 

 dusky; the ears in this, as in all owls, very 

 large, and their sense of hearing very exquisite. 

 The color of this kind is sufficient to distinguish 

 it from every other; that of the back, head, co- 

 verts of the wings, and the scapular feathers, 

 being of a fine tawny red, elegantly spotted and 

 powdered with black or dusky spots of various 

 sizes ; on the coverts of the wings, and on the 

 scapulars, are several large white spots; the 

 coverts of the tail are tawny, and quite free from 

 any marks ; the tail is variously blotched, 

 barred and spotted with pale red and black ; in 

 the two middle feathers the red predominates ; 

 the breast and belly are yellowish, mixed with 

 white, and marked with narrow black strokes, 



