Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/516

482 Of course these were still attended to by the foster-birds, but whether the crying was for food or on account of the cold, I cannot say. Perhaps both. It might be surmised that the cold would awaken the appetite, provided it did not interfere with the health of the bird; and it is also probable that certain forms of insects were not so easily available in cold as in warm weather. There was a young one flying about on Aug. 10th, with a foster-bird in attendance; this being the latest date on which I saw them. The whole of the foster-birds were Mountain Linnets (Linota flavirostris).— (Alford, N.B.).

The Little Owl in Flintshire?—In collecting materials for a fauna of North Wales, I have lately had occasion to look into old records as far back as the beginning of the century. One of the problems presented for solution was this—Has the Little Owl (Carine noctua) ever been obtained in North Wales? Yarrell and Morris mention it as having occurred in Flintshire, but give no particulars. Montagu, writing of it under the title of the Sparrow-Owl (Noctua passerina, Savigny), notices that the descriptions of plumage given by various authors show many discrepancies. He did not, apparently, perceive that three species had been confounded together under the title of Little Owl. These we now know as Carine noctua and Nyctala tengmalmi; the third—the form called Strix passerina by Linnaeus— has never occurred in Britain. Traced to its source, the statement that Carine noctua has occurred in Flintshire appears to rest on the testimony of Pennant. Let us see what he says. In his 'Tour in Wales,' speaking of the detached hundred of Maelor in Flintshire, he states that that rare British species, the Little Owl, had been taken in some woods near Overton. In his 'British Zoology,' 1812, p. 270, he states, in general terms, the Little Owl (Strix passerina) "is sometimes found in Yorkshire, Flintshire, and also near London." The allusion to Flintshire probably refers to the Overton bird. Later writers have copied this statement without question. I think, however, that the description given by Pennant indicates that the bird was Nyctala tengmalmi, not the species now known as the Little Owl (Carine noctua). The editor of the fourth edition of 'Yarrell' was also of this opinion, for on p. 155 he writes:—"The 'Little Owl' figured in the folio edition of Pennant's 'British Zoology' was probably of this species" [N. tengmalmi]. Yet on p. 179 he still speaks of the Little Owl as having occurred in Flintshire. If it could be proved that Pennant's Overton Owl was Carine noctua, the much-debated question as to the admission of the Little Owl to the British list might be considered settled; at that period it is unlikely that it could have been an escaped or imported bird. Now, to sum up the evidence. So far as we know only one Little Owl has been obtained in North Wales. (Dr. Dobie records another at Gresford, but suggests a doubt as to species.) That one was apparently Nyctala teng-