66 
STRIGIN^. ASIO. 
large, extending from over the middle of the eye to the base i 
of the lower mandible, and of a semilunar form, with an 
anterior semicircular flap in its whole length, and a broad i 
membranous margin behind. Head very large, short ; neck 
short ; body short, much compressed behind. Legs short, ! 
moderately stout ; tarsus short, and with the toes covered 
with somewhat silky feathers ; toes short, with two terminal ; 
scutella ; claws long, moderately curved, slender, compressed, , 
extremely acute. Plumage full, extremely soft ; facial disks ' 
very large, complete ; rufP complete ; a tuft of elongated ' 
feathers on each side over the eye ; wings very long, broad, 
rather pointed ; the second quill longest, the first and fourth 
about equal, the outer only having a slight sinus in the inner 
web close to the tip ; tail rather short, a little rounded. 
The species of this genus are less robust than those belong- 
ing to Bubo. They are nocturnal, and incapable of seeking : 
their prey by day, Both our species occur also in North i 
America. 
28. Asio Otus. Mottled Tufted-Owl. : 
Tufts conspicuous, projecting an inch and a half beyond the ; 
plumage of the head ; upper parts light reddish-yellow, longi- 
tudinally streaked, transversely barred, and finely undulated ; 
with brown and greyish-white ; lower parts light reddish- ' 
yellow, with oblong brown streaks, and faintly undulated ; ; 
facial disks whitish in their anterior half, pale yellowish- 
brown behind, the eye half surrounded by dark brown. Young ; 
with the facial disks yellowish -brown, and the dark markings 
on the lower parts broader. 
Male, 14J, 36, lU, Ij, IJ, Female, 16, 40. 
A constant resident, occurring in the wooded parts of both 
England and Scotland, it being, next to the Barn Owl, our 
most common species. It is strictly nocturnal ; feeds on 
small glires, moles, birds, and insects ; reposes by day in 
thick woods ; generally appropriates the deserted nest of a 
crow or other bird, and lays from three to five eggs, which are i 
pure white, an inch and nine-twelfths long, an inch and four- ' 
twelfths in breadth. The young, at first covered with light 
grey down, faintly barred with brown, are generally abroad in 
June. 
Long-eared Owl. Common-eared Owl. Horned Owl. 
Strix Otus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 132. — Strix Otus, Temm. 
