N yctala t en gm a lm i (J. F. Gmelin *).
TENGMALM’S OWL.
Noctua Tengmalmi.
Nyotala, C. L. lirehm *f*.—Bill short, decurved from the base ; cere rudimenta
ry ; nostrils nearly circular; under mandible notched. Ears large, asymmetrical,
and furnished in front with a well-developed operculum. Facial disk large and
nearly complete. Wings long, rounded. Tail short. Legs and toes thickly
feathered. Head large, the asymmetry of the aural region extending to the
skull.
T h i s prettily-marked Owl was, i n 1788, first clearly distinguished
from other species by Tengmalm, a Swedish Ornithologist,
in honour of whom it was named by Johann
Friedrich Gmelin.
Though similar in size and general appearance to the
Little Owl to be presently described, it can at once be recognized
by the more thick and downy character of the
plumage, and by the length and abundance of the feathers
* Strix tengmalmi, J. F. Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 291 (1788).
1 Isis, 1828, p. 1271.
covering its short legs and toes, to say nothing of the more
recondite differences which a closer examination will reveal.
It has no doubt been sometimes mistaken for the Little
Owl, and possibly obtained in this country more frequently
than it has been recorded; since the “ Little Owl,” figured in
the folio edition of Pennant’s ‘ British Zoology,’ was probably
of this species; while that engraved by Bewick and
Selby, under the same name, certainly is so, as the Editor
is informed by Mr. Hancock who has seen the specimen,
killed at Widdrington in Northumberland in January, 1812
or 1813, and now in the Selby Collection at Twizell House.
The same gentleman adds that he has had three examples
of Tengmalm’s Owl all taken near Newcastle-on-Tyne : the
first, which was recorded by Mr. Bold (Zool. p. 2765), wras
shot at Whitburn, in October 1848; the second at Rotli-
bury, in April 1849 ; and the third was caught alive at
Widdrington some twelve years since. In 1836, a specimen
recently shot wras purchased in a poulterer’s shop in London ;
and in May of the same year, the late Mr. Leadbeater received
a specimen for preservation which had been shot in
Kent. Messrs. Gurney and Fisher (Zool. p. 1305) record a
sixth, which was taken some years since at Bradwell in
Suffolk, and Dr. Morris mentions (Zool. p. 2649) an example
obtained at Hunmanby in Yorkshire about the year 1847.
In 1856 the Editor saw in the collection of Mr. William
Felkin, of Beeston near Nottingham, a specimen which he
said he had received in the flesh from near Liverpool. Mr.
Borrer records (Zool. p. 5988) the capture of an example,
near Horsham on the 27tli of March, 1857, which is now in
his collection. Mr. Stevenson mentions an adult female,
killed at Burlingham in Norfolk, about the 6tli of April, 1857,
and now in the possession of Mr. H. N. Burroughes, and has
kindly forwarded the further information that an example
was caught alive at Beechamwell in the same county, on the
27tli of January, 1849, and is now in the collection of the
Rev. E. W. Dowell of Dunton. On the authority of Mr.
Braikenridge, Mr. Gould mentions a specimen killed at
Winscombe in 1859, and, lastly, Mr. Boulton records (Zool.