98 
STRIX NiEVIA. 
sions, and lowering its head as before described. It 
swallowed its food hastily, in large mouthfuls; and 
never was observed to drink. Of the eggs and nest of 
this species, I am unable to speak. 
The mottled owl is ten inches dong, and twenty-two 
in extent ; the upper part of the head, the back, ears, 
and lesser wing-coverts, are dark brown, streaked and 
variegated with black, pale brown, and ash ; wings, 
lighter, the greater coverts and primaries spotted with 
white ; tail, short, even, and mottled with black, pale 
brown, and whitish, on a dark brown ground ; its dower 
side, gray; horns, (as they are usually called,) very 
prominent, each composed of ten feathers, increasing in 
length from the front backwards, and lightest on the 
inside ; face, whitish, marked with small touches of 
dusky, and bounded on each side with a circlet of black ; 
breast and belly, white* beautifully variegated with 
ragged streaks of black, and small transverse touches 
of brown ; legs, feathered nearly to the claws, with a 
kind of hairy down, of a pale brown colour ; vent and 
under tail-coverts, white, the latter slightly marked 
with brown ; iris of the eye, a brilliant golden yellow ; 
bill and claws, bluish horn colour. 
This was a female. The male is considerably less in 
size; the general colours darker; and the white on 
the wing-coverts not so observable. 
Hollow trees, either in the woods or orchard, or close 
evergreens in retired situations, are the usual roosting 
places of this and most of our other species. These 
retreats, however, are frequently discovered by the 
nuthatch, titmouse, or blue jay, who instantly raise the 
alarm ; a promiscuous group of feathered neighbours 
soon collect round the spot, like crowds in the streets 
of a large city, when a thief or murderer is detected ; 
and, by their insults and vociferation, oblige the recluse 
to seek for another lodging elsewhere. This may 
account for the circumstance of sometimes finding them 
abroad during the day, on fences and other exposed 
situations. 
