29.
CANADA
O.
D e s c r i p t io n .
be j I therefore fate them down as varieties only o f the fame fpecies,
or at leaft different in fex. I f the cafe be not fo, I am not at all
clear about the two Owls mentioned by Mr. Pennant, as he certainly
would not have omitted the circumftance of the yellow
irides, had it ever come before him. As I therefore have it not
in my power to fettle this matter to my wiihes, I mull leave it
to future naturalifls, to whom a better opportunity of invefti-
gating the matter may chance to offer itfelf. According then to
M. de Buffon, the following are thus diftinguifhed : The Hulotte,
N° 20, has hlack irides; the Chathuant, N° 27, blue ones; thofe
of the Effraie, or Barn Owl, N° 26, orange j and the Grand
Cheveche, N° 28, of a fine yellow, with the bill brown; the
Cheveche, or Little Owl, N° 40, having pale yellow irides, and
a brown and orange bill.
Stria funerea, L in . Syfi. i. p. 139. N° 2 t .
Le Chathuant de Canada, Brif. on. i. p. 518. N° 6. t. 37. F a.
La Chouette, ou Grande Cheveche de Canada, Buf. oij. i. p. 391. N” j ,
Canada Owl, Jour. Zool. N°
Lev, Mu/,
g R I S S O N deferibes this bird in the following manner: —
Length thirteen inches. The bill whitifh : irides yellow!
the body brown above, fpotted with white : head on the upper
part black, with white dots; bread: and belly whitifh, crofied
with tranfverfe linear fafei®: greater quills fpotted on each fide
the fhaft with white; five of the inner ones not fpotted: the
tail marked with narrow whitifh bands ; the two middle feathers
whitifh at the tip.
M. de
M. de Buffon remarks, that it is every way like the lafi: fpe-
eies, except the breaft, which is fafeiated.
M. Briffon has likewife comprifed both under the name of La
grand Chouette, vol. vi. App. p. 31. Notwithftanding whofe opinions,
Dr. Forfter mentions it as a diftinit fpecies, by name of
Gabeticuch, or Cabaducutch, and fays it anfwers exaftly to the de-
feription of Finn reus. -M The male is largeft, the colour darker,,
and the fpots more diftindt than in the female. The weight is-,
twelve ounces,, length feventeen inches, and the breadth two
feet. It inhabits Hudfon’s Bay, and has. two young at one hatching.
Linnreus mentions it in the Fauna Suectca, N° 75, as a bird belonging
to Sweden, and quotes the fame plate of Frifch in the-
Fauna, as he does for the Ulula in the Syfiema, Thefe birds then,
cannot be much unlike.
Lc- Chathuant de la Baye de Hudfon, Brif. on . i. p. 520. N° 7.
Caparacoch, Buf. oif. i. p. 385. N° 2.
Little Hawk Owl, Ettw. ii. t. 62.
Hawk Owl, Am. Zool. N°
Lev. Mttf.
A Little bigger than a Sparrow Hawk. Bill'and irides orange:
top of the head brown, fpotted with white: face white, fhaded
with brown,.and furrounded with black: body above brown, the;
feathers with white edges-; beneath white, tranfVerfely barred
with brown: rump dingy brown, banded with paler brown ::
quills fpotted .with white on the outer edge: tail banded with;
white-::
I
I
30.-
HAWEo.
D escrie tion.