22 
STRIGINtE. surnia. 
29. 3. Surnia passerina. Linn. Passerine Day- Owl. — Little 
Night Owl. 
Plate CCCCXXXII. Fig. 3. Female. 
Tail rather short,, arched, nearly even ; wings almost as long as the 
tail, the outer four quills cut out on the inner web, the outer five si- 
nuated on the outer ; filaments of the first free and slightly recurved, 
as are those of the second and third beyond the sinus. General colour 
of upper parts chocolate-brown, the feather of the head with an ob- 
long median white mark ; hind neck with very large white spots, 
forming a conspicuous patch ; on the back most of the feathers with 
a single large subterminal roundish spot, as is the case with the sca- 
pulars and wing-coverts, most of which, however, have two or more 
spots; quills with marginal reddish- white spots on both webs, the 
third with six on the outer and four on the inner, with two very faint 
pale bars toward the end ; the tail similarly marked with four bands 
of transversely oblong, reddish-white spots ; feathers of the anterior 
part of the disk whitish, with black shafts, of the lower part whitish, 
of the hind part brown tipped with greyish-white ; a broad band of 
white crossing the throat, and curving upwards on either side to the 
ear ; a patch of white on the lower part of the fore-neck ; between 
these a brownish-grey band. Lower parts dull yellowish-white, each 
feather with a broad longitudinal band of chocolate-brown ; abdomen 
and lower tail-coverts unspotted ; tarsal feathers dull white. 
Female, lOi ; wing from flex. 6| ; tail 3i. 
From Nova Scotia eastward. Rather rare. 
Little Niglit Owl, Strix passerina, Aud. v. v. p. 269. 
31. 5. Surnia cunicularia, Gmel. Burrowing Day- Owl. 
Plate CCCCXXXII. Fig. 1. Male: fig. 2. Female. 
Feet rather long, slender ; tarsus covered with short soft feathers, of 
which the shafts only remain toward the lower part ; toes short, their 
upper surface covered with bristles or the shafts of feathers ; tail short, 
arched, narrow, slightly rounded. Bill greyish-yellow ; claws black. 
General colour of upper parts light yellowish-brown, or umber-brown, 
spotted with white; the quills with triangular reddish- white spots 
from the margins of both webs, there being five on each web of the 
first ; the tail similarly barred, there being on the middle feathers four 
double spots, and the tips of all white. Face greyish- white ; throat 
and ruff white, succeeded by a mottled brown band, beneath which is 
a patch of white ; the rest of the lower parts yellowish- white, with 
broad bars of light reddish-brown, which are closer on the sides of the 
breast ; abdomen, lower tail- coverts, and legs without spots. 
Male, 10, 24. Female, 11. 
Prairies west of the Mississippi. Abundant. 
