OWL. 319 



15— MARSH EARED OWL. 



Strix palustris, Tnd.Orn. S>ip. p. xiii. Bechst.Vog. Detttsch. il. 344. Allg.U.d. Vog. 



i. Ziisass. p. 683. 16. jS. 

 Marsh eared Owl, Gen. Si/n.Sup. ii. p. 58. Shaiv's Zool. vii. •227. 



THIS is as big as a Crow, and not far from nine inches long. — 

 The bill brown blue, tip and edge yellow; legs haiiy ; claws black; 

 the upper part of the plumage is^ white, grey, and brown mixed; 

 but in the head and shoulders the white predominates; the ears consist 

 of six feathers ; about the neck is a kind of yellowish ring, marked 

 with coffee-coloured spots ; the under parts of the body reddish grey 

 on the sides, streaked with chestnut brown, and some smaller cross 

 stieaks ; thighs ferruginous, with dull transverse lines ; quills grey, 

 with coffee-brown spots, making four cross stripes ; the tail has five 

 bands, made up in the same manner. In some specimens the ear 

 consists of three or four feathers only. 



This species inhabits Pomerania, Hesse, and Thnringia, where 

 it is called by some the Moor Fowl, being found in the peat marshes, 

 among the high grass ; it lays four white eggs, the size of those of a 

 pigeon, and feeds chiefly on field or other mice. This, from the 

 description^ seems to coincide much with that of the Short-eared 

 species. 



16.— PEREGRINE EARED OWX. 



SIZE uncertain. Bill dusky ; irides orange ; circles of the face 

 scarcely conspicuous; general colour of the plumage rufous and 



