THE HAWK OWL. 
regret my inability to add anything as to the habits of this 
s})ecies, or even of its appearance while living, but a rough 
description of this, one of the very few specimens procured in 
Britain, may not be out of place in these pages. 
Measurevients . — Whole length (of dried skin), 16 J inches. 
Wing from carpal joint to tip of longest quill, 9 J inches. Bill, 
J I inch. Tarsus, 1 J inch. Middle toe and its claw, 1| inch. 
Bill, white, tinged with brownish grey. 
Eye (said to have been), yellow. 
Head and neck . — Facial disk white, stained and slightly 
mottled with light dusky brown, becoming darker between the 
bill and the eye. Top of head and back of neck blackish 
brown, spotted with white, but much l<3ss on the back of the 
neck, where the brown lies more in patches. Outer edge of 
facial disk has each feather tipped with blackish brown ; on 
each side of the neck, a long, broad, irregular line of the colour 
last mentioned ; remainder of front of neck and its sides 
mottled with white and brownish black. 
Upper surface. — Back, scapulars, and upper tail coverts, nearly 
black, spotted with white, the scapulars being darkest, and those 
nearest the wing having numerous bar-like white marks. 
Wings . — Lesser coverts faded brownish black ; greater coverts 
and all the quills, the same, but spotted with white ; the spots 
upon the outer webs somewhat square in form. 
Under surface white,, barred with brownish black, the bars 
paler on the breast and near the tail; on each side of the 
breast, near the bend of the wing, a large dark patch. 
Tail, brownish black, the middle feathers with several 
narrow white bars. 
Tarsi and toes (which are feathered to the claws), dingy 
white, with numerous bars of pale dusky brown. Claws 
yellowish at base, dusky at tips. 
The spots are most distinct upon the head, and the bars 
largest and darkest upon the sides. 
I have failed in the endeavour to obtain any other authentic 
instance of the occurrence of the Hawk Owl in Shetland. 
