324 7 ^ Hiftory of ANIMAL S. 
The remiges or long, wing-feathers are very beautifully variegated at their edges, with 
five feries of white round fpots. 
The ears of this fpecies are large j the eyes, on the contrary, are fmall, hut they 
are extreamly bright and beautiful, more fo indeed than thofe of almoft any other 
fpecies: the iris is yellow 3 the legs are fhort and robuft : they am feathered almoft 
to the ends of the toes, only that there are two or three naked annules: the inner 
part of the foot is yellow; the claws are black and fharp 3 the head is elegantly fpot- 
ted with numerous white dots, and the bafe of the beak is ornamented with a kind 
black whifkers. 
This elegant fpecies is frequent in Germany, and in many other parts of Europe, 
but we have it not in England: moft of the naturalifts, who have written on birds 
have defcribed it. Gefner and Aldrovand call it, limply, Nodtua 3 Ray, No&ua mi¬ 
nima 3 Willughby, MoCtua minor et minima. It lives in woods, in the hollow trunks 
of trees, and feeds on mice, fmall birds, and every living thing that is fmaller or 
weaker than itfelf. 
Strix capite leevi^ corpore albido. 
The white Strix ^ with afmooth head. 
This is a very large and a very lingular fpecies: it is nearly equal to a goofe in big- 
nefs, and it’s colour is a beautiful bright white all over: the head is very large and 
rounded 3 it is feparated from the body by an elegant and regular circle of feathers, 
fofter than the reft, and beautifully arranged3 and there are two other fuch circles 
about the eyes, and parts of fuch at the ears : the reft of the head is of the fame 
white with the body, but it is oddly and irregularly fprinkled over, as it were, with 
little fpots of a blackilh colour: the tail alfo is white, and is fpotted with the fame 
manner with black: the breaft and belly are of the fame white with the back and 
fides, but they are variegated with fome tranfverfe, undulated lines of a greyifh-brown, 
and the covering feathers of the wings are ornamented alfo in the fame manner. 
The long feathers of the wings, when expanded, are found to be of a fnow-white, 
but variegated with a double feries of fmall, black fpots, and fometimes there is a 
third feries of them. 
The legs are very robuft, and the claws long and terrible 5 they are of a bluifh-co- 
lour, and very fharp. 
This fpecies is a native of many of the northern parts of Europe, but it has not 
been feen in England. It lives in forefts, and is a very bold and voracious bird, feeding 
on hares, rabbets, and other of the fmaller quadrupeds, and fometimes attacking lambs, 
when very young. The authors who have written on birds have been in general un¬ 
acquainted with it. Rudbeckius and Linnaeus have both defcribed it, however, as a 
native of Sweden. Rudbeck calls it, Nodua Scandiana maxima ex albo et cinereo 
variegata. 
Strix capite Icevi , corpore ferrugineo^ remige 
tertia lottgiore. COHIlUllfl tQOltttt 
The hr own afmooth-headed Strix , with the third Ot 
of the wing-feathers longeft. 
This is the moft frequent with ns of all the owl-kind : it is of the fize of a pigeon, 
but the body is fhorter, in proportion to it’s thicknefs3 it’s weight is about three 
quarters of a pound : it’s wings are large and fo long, that, when extended, they mea- 
lure two feet and a half from tip to tip : the beak is large, broad, and hooked, and is 
of a bluifh or hornifh colour: the opening, of the mouth is extreamly large, the fiffure 
reaching beyond the immediate root of the beak : the tongue is not large, but it is 
fomewhat bifid at the extremity, and on the palate there is a cavity fit to receive the 
tongue : the eyes are vaftly large and protuberant 3 the eye-lids have a broad, reddifh 
edge: the apertures of the ears are alfo very large, but they are covered with a mem¬ 
brane : the face is marked by a circle of feathers peculiarly arranged 3 this circle con- 
lifts of two feries of feathers 3 the exterior one is more rigid, and is variegated with 
black, white, and brown j the inner is compofed of fofter feathers, and they are 
only variegated with white and dame-colour : the ears are furrounded by this circle, 
, . or 
great, 
Mjite Diw. 
