tengmalm's owl. 



71 



^EGOLIUS FUNEREUS 



233. iEgolius funereus funereus (L.)— TENGMALM'S OWL.. 



Strix funerea Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 93 (1758 — " Europa." 

 Restricted typical locality: Sweden. Ex Fauna Suecica p. 17, No. 51, 

 1746, where it had been described from a plate of Rudbeck of Upsala. 

 The objection raised to funerea in footnote, Hand -List, p. 105, 1912, is 

 not valid, according to Lonnberg's investigations. See Brit. B. , ix, p. 5). 

 Strix Tengmalmi Gmelin, Syst. Nat., 1, i, p. 291 (1788 — Sweden). 

 Nyctala tengmalmi (J. F. Gmelin), Yarrell, 1, p. 154 ; Saimders, p. 299. 

 Mgolius tengmalmi tengmalmi (Gm.), Hand-List, p. 105 (1912). 



Foot of : A. Tengmalm's Owl (Mqolius /. funereus) ; B. The Little Owl (Athene n. mira) ; 

 C. Tiie Scops-Owl (Otus s. scops). 



Description (Plate 1). — Adult male and female. Winter. — 

 Upper -parts much as Little Owl but of a more reddish chocolate- 

 brown, white spots on fore-part of crown whiter and white markings 

 on rest of crown larger and rounder and not in form of streaks, rest of 

 white on upper-parts much as in Little Owl but without any burl 

 tinge ; facial disk complete, white with a blackish patch on loral 

 portion and feathers of rest tipped and edged dull chocolate-brown ; 

 under-parts much as Little Owl but white much purer and brown of 

 a reddish-chocolate ; band across throat chocolate-brown, feathers 

 edged white ; tarsus and toes white with chocolate-brown marks, 

 toes thickly covered with feathers and sometimes without chocolate 

 brown marks ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white with 

 chocolate -brown markings rather more numerous than in Little 

 Owl and chocolate-brown tips of feathers covering primaries not 

 so long ; tail reddish chocolate -brown as upper -parts with white 

 spots on both webs, spots varying somewhat in size but usually 

 narrow, and on inner webs of all except central feathers larger 

 and more tooth -like ; primaries and secondaries chocolate-brown 

 with white spots on outer webs and much larger white tooth -like 

 marks on edges of inner webs (white considerably more restricted 

 than in Little Owl) ; primary-coverts chocolate-brown with white 

 spots (concealed) on inner webs ; greater and median coverts same 



