Ornithology of Cyprus . 35 
hundred yards of the camp. In short, it is very common, well 
distributed, very noticeable on account of its loud cries, which 
it utters incessantly at night and sometimes during the day, 
and extremely familiar, frequenting barns, farm-buildings 
and houses, and being often seen in the towns themselves. 
With regard to the coloration of the many specimens which 
we obtained, I can only say that they varied remarkably, 
some being extremely light and others quite dark. We kept 
two pairs for some time in captivity, and deposited one pair 
in the Zoological Gardens in London. Of these two pairs, 
those taken from the farm-buildings, attached to my house 
in Nicosia, were extremely dark, and I should regard them 
as typical Athene no etna; the second pair, taken from the 
sandy district at Athalassa by Mr. Barrett, was extremely 
light and were in my opinion equally typical of Athene 
glaux. In Cyprus I doubt if any real border-line exists 
between the two forms. 
707. Subsp. Athene glaux (Savigny). 
In view of what I have written with regard to the preceding 
species, it is unneccessary to add anything further in con¬ 
nexion with this form. 
709. Aluco flammeus (Linn.). 
Strix flammea, B. O. U. List, p. 85. 
The Barn or White Owl is, without doubt, very rare in 
Cyprus. Lord Lilford heard it at Larnaca and Famagusta, 
and Guillemard, in 1887, saw at the former place two indi¬ 
viduals, which had been taken there, but he never observed 
the species elsewhere and only once doubtfully heard its cry 
during his two visits. The only specimens of which I have 
any knowledge is an adult, brought alive to Mr. Baxendale 
on the 13th of June, 1909, which had been taken near 
Papho, and another shot in the same district. I am unable 
to say what is the status of this bird in the island, but am 
inclined to think that it is only a straggler. 
710. Gyps fulvus (Grnel.). 
The island is not large enough to offer a larder for 
very great numbers of Vultures, compared with the swarms 
d 2 
