GREY OWL. ^71 



whereas those of the White Owl are like little 

 points or drops, and hence the former has been 

 called Noctua Jiammeata^ and the latter Noctzia 

 guttata. The feet of the present species are more 

 closely covered with feathers ; and the bill is brown, 

 while in the Barn Owl it is whitish, and brown 

 only towards the tip. In the present species also 

 the female is marked with smaller spots than the 

 male, and its colours are more dilute. The ex- 

 treme length of this species is only .eleven inches^. 



In Monsieur Sonnini*s edition of Buffon we have 

 a description of this bird by Monsieur Virey, given 

 in the form of a note. This bird, says he, may be 

 distinguished by the colour of the head, neck, 

 breast, under parts of the body, and flanks, which 

 are whitish, with a faint tinge of red, and slightly 

 clouded with brown: on all the feathers is a lon- 

 gitudinal brown streak: the hind parts of the body, 

 as the rump, and tail-coverts, are of a pale rufous, 

 with earth 'brown spots : the belly white : the wing- 

 feathers varied (chamarries) with rufous and brown, 

 with brown tips: the tail is marked by transverse 

 brown bars, and a pale yellow down clothes the 

 legs and feet: the iris is yellow: the bill and 

 claws black. The colours of the female are paler, 

 and the brown spots less apparent. The young 

 are of a whitish grey mixed with brown, and after- 

 wards grow rufous. 



In the northern parts of Sweden occurs a sup- 



* According to Mr. Latham, fifteen and a half j and according 

 to the Gmelian edition of the Systema Naturae, fourteen inches. 



