Birds. Pl. 3.
Otus Galapagoensis.
Form.—Second primary scarcely perceptibly longer than the first, and fourth rather longer than first. Tarsi thickly clothed with short feathers to the root of the nails.
| In. | |
|---|---|
| Total length | 13½ |
| Wings | 11 |
| Tail | 6 |
| Tarsi | 2 |
| Middle toe to root of nail | 1⅒ |
| From tip of beak to interior edge of nostril | ⁶⁄₁₀ |
Habitat, James Island, Galapagos Archipelago, (October).
Mr. Gould informs me, that “this species has most of the essential characters of the common short-eared owl of Europe (Strix brachyota), but differs from it, and all the other members of the group, in its smaller size and darker colouring.”
The lesser proportional size of the fulvous marks on the first primaries, and on the tail, and the peculiar transverse brown marks on the feathers of the belly, easily distinguish it from the common short-eared owl. The specimen described is a male bird.
2. Otus palustris. Gould.
Strix brachyota. Lath.
Specimens of this bird were obtained at the Falkland Islands, at Santa Cruz in Patagonia, and at Maldonado on the northern bank of the Plata. At the latter place it seemed to live in long grass, and took to flight readily in the day. At the Falkland Islands it harboured in a similar manner amongst low bushes. Mr. Gould says, “So closely do the specimens brought home by Mr. Darwin, resemble European individuals, that I can discover no specific difference, by which they may be distinguished.”
We have, therefore, the same species occurring in lat. 52° S. on the coast of South America, and in the northern division of the continent, according to Richardson, even as far as the sixty-seventh degree of latitude. Jardine says it is found in the Orkney islands (lat. 59°), and in Siberia; and that he has received specimens of it from Canton. M. D’Orbigny says it is found in the Sandwich and Marianne islands in the Pacific Ocean, and at Bengal in India. This bird, therefore, may be considered as a true cosmopolite.