568 
Letters , Extracts, and Notes. [Ibis, 
plumage before acquiring feathers which are exactly like 
those of the adult. The first is a shortish buffish-white 
down. According to Mr. Bonhote, this is followed by a 
long down. I find, on the other hand, by examination of 
specimens (in the Brit. Mus. and at Tring) that the first 
down is immediately succeeded by the juvenile plumage 
which Mr. Bonhote calls “ (3) a downy feather.” The 
specimens in the British Museum clearly show the shortish 
white down attached to the tips of these downy feathers. 
I venture to suggest that Mr. Bonhote has confused this 
plumage in its early stages of growth on the living bird 
with a down. As I have already stated (‘ Practical Hand¬ 
book/ vol. ii. pp. 78-79), it is of a very loose and downy 
nature, and this is especially noticeable on the rump and 
belly. There is considerable variation in the structure of 
the juvenile feathers of the Owls. Mr. Meade-Waldo in 
his letter ( antea , p. 348) refers to the Scops Owl as having 
no intermediate down between the first and the feather 
plumage, and compares it with the Barn-Owl, but this 
comparison is confusing and not correct. The juvenile 
plumage of the Scops Owl is more compact than that of 
other British Owls, but it differs from that of the adult, and 
is a true juvenile plumage. The juvenile plumage of the 
Hawk-Owl is very little less compact, while that of the 
Eagle-Owl represents the other extreme, being looser and 
more down-like even than that of the Snowy Owl. The 
first feathers of the Barn-Owl, on the other hand, are 
exactly like those of the adult, and I consider that the 
second nestling down of this species is equivalent in genera¬ 
tion to the downy juvenile plumage of other Owls, which 
have only one nestling down. 
Hampstead, 
June 12, 1921. 
H. E. WlTHERBY. 
