76 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



the tip, as in the typical Falcons ; the second quill is the longest, and is the only 

 one slightly emarginate on its outer web. All these characters belong likewise 

 to the Long-eared Owl, the only apparent variation being in the second and 

 longest quill feather, which in the latter bird has a deep notch near its tip. — Sw. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of & female, killed at Fort Franklin, 20th May, 1826. Eggs fully formed were contained in the oviduct. 



Colour of the facial circle at the base of the bill white, with a slight intermixture of black 

 hairs ; posteriorly it is dark blackish-brown close to the orbit, then yellowish-brown mixed with 

 white, and lastly the tips of the soft velvety feathers behind the auditory opening exhibit a 

 spotted mixture of dark umber and bright yellowish-brown, which colours extend across the 

 throat immediately behind the lower jaw. The egrets are coloured like the adjoining plumage, 

 and, being short, are scarcely visible. The plumage on the dorsal aspect is variegated by 

 liver-brown and light yellowish-brown, the latter colour occupying the margins of the feathers. 

 The primaries have a clear wood-brown colour, approaching to buff, crossed by two irregular 

 bars of liver-brown, and also tipped for two inches with the same colour. The outer webs of 

 the secondaries are liver-brown, crossed by five mottled bars of wood-brown ; their inner webs 

 are of the latter colour, indented with processes of liver-brown proceeding from the shafts. 

 The tail is crossed by six wood-brown bars, alternating with five liver-brown ones, its tip 

 being of the former colour. 



Under surface of the neck coloured like the back, but the paler margins of the feathers 

 are broader. The long feathers covering the sides of the belly are yellowish-brown, with 

 narrow streaks of liver-brown on their shafts. The vent feathers, under tail coverts, and 

 feathers of the thighs and feet, are yellowish-brown, without spots. The under surface of the 

 tail is buff-coloured, with five narrow broccoli-brown bars. The linings of the wings are 

 yellowish-brown, with blotches of dark-brown. Bill and claws black. Irides bright gamboge- 

 yellow. 



Form. — Bill elliptically curved from its base, the part covered with cere somewhat inflated; 

 its point compressed with a very obtuse ridge. Nostrils oval, oblique. Facial circle of wiry 

 feathers complete, but not large. Concha forming a semicircle, with a rather narrow operculum 

 of corresponding length. Tips of the folded wings falling about an inch and a half short 

 of the end of the tail. The second primary is the longest; the third is a quarter of an inch, 

 and the first half an inch shorter; the others diminish in succession about three-quarters of an 

 inch each. The whole of the outer barbs of the first primary and those at the tip of the second 

 have their points reverted. The outer web of the second primary and inner one of the first 

 are sinuated. The feet are covered to the claws with short feathers. The claws taper con- 

 siderably and are very sharp ; the middle one is the longest, the inner one is next to it in size, 

 and the hind one is the smallest ; the latter and the outer one are rounded beneath, the two 

 others are grooved, and the middle one has a very sharp inner edge. 



