58 
BIRDS. ACCIPITRES. 
Steix. 
Strixp Will. Orn. 65. Sihh. Scott. 15 — Tawny Owl and Brown Owl, Penn. 
Brit. Zool. i. 208 — Strix stridula, Linn. Syst. i. 133. — S. aluco, Temm. 
Orn. i. 89. — Screech-Owl, Brown -Owl, Wood-Owl — W., Dylluan frech, 
. Aderyn-y-Cyrph ; G, Cumhachag, Cail leach oidcho. — Near woods and 
houses, not uncommon. 
Length 14, breadth 33 inches ; weight 12 ounces. Plumage reddish-brown, 
with black, striped, and mottled with dusky, with some white spots on the 
auricles, scapulars, and wing-coverts. Quills and tail barred with reddish- 
brown and black ; first, second, third, fourth and fifth quills with the inner 
margin abbreviated ; a slight concavity in the margin of the outer web of the 
second, third, and fourth. In the female the plumage is of a redder colour. 
Breeds in old trees. Eggs 2 or 3, of a dull white. Feeds on young hares, 
pigeons, and mice. 
33. S. nyctea. Snowy-Owl. — Bill and claws black, irides 
yellow. 
Lin. Syst. i. 132. Bulloclc., Lin. Trans, xi. 175. Edmonstone, Wern. 
Mem. iv. 157. Temm. Orn. i. 82. — Inhabits Zetland. 
Length 2 feet, breadth 5 feet 5 inches. Plumage white, Avith transverse 
streaks of brown or dusky. In old birds, the plumage is wholly white ; in the 
young, the spots and bars are more numerous. Tail rounded, about the 
length of the wings. Supposed to breed in Zetland and Orkney. According 
to Mr Edmonstone, it rests generally beneath some stony projection, which 
protects it from the direct influence of the sun. Frequents sohtary elevated 
places. Preys chiefly on sandpipers and mice. Hoots when irritated, like 
the preceding species. 
34. S. passerina. Little Owl. — Bill and claws brown, tip 
of the former yellow ; irides yellow. 
Noctua minor. Will. Orn. 69 — Strix pass. Linn. Syst. i. 133. Penn. Brit. 
Zool. i, 211. Temm. Orn. i. 92 — IF, Coeg Ddylluan — In England, 
rare. 
Length 7, breadth 14 inches. Plumage, above, greyish-brown, with white 
spots ; breast white ; remainder, below, reddish-white, with cinereous brown 
spots. The female has reddish spots on the neck. Breeds in 1 oles in old 
walls. Eggs 2 or 4, rounded, Avhite. Feeds on mice and small birds — It is 
uncertain whether this species breeds in England, or is only an occasional 
visitant. 
PASSEEES. 
I. The first joints of the outer and middle toes connected hy 
membranes. 
* Gape remarJcahly large. Bill wide at the base ; a little hooked 
at the point. Fissirostres. 
•f* Nostrils open. Wings long, flight rapid. 
Hirundo. 
Cypselus. 
Nostrils tubulur. 
Caprimulgus. 
** Gape (fi the ordinary size. 
•f* Upper mandible rvith a notch in the margin. Dentirostres. 
