CARINE.
Small; wing under 17o m.m.; no ear tufts; spotted on upper and streaked on underparts; feed on small birds, insects, mice, reptiles, etc. ; nest in holes in masonry, rocks, or trees, occasionally on ground.
Carine noctua noctua (Scopoli). LITTLE OWL. Ger. Steinkauz ; Fr. Chouette ; Ital. Civetta.
Above dark brown with large white spots, smaller and narrower on crown ; quills barred white ; tail barred buff; beneath white broadly streaked with dark brown ; tarsus feathered white ; toes covered with hairs ; 3rd and 4th primaries equal and longest. Bill yellow, greenish at base. Feet greyish yellow. Iris yellow. Wing 152-17o. Tarsus 30-35. Bill 10-12.
Europe from Denmark to Baltic Provinces south to Pyrenees, N. Italy, Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Bosnia, Serbia, and C. Russia to about 55° N.
"C. noctua sarda" (Kleinschmidt), narrower banding on scapulars, has been described from Sardinia but does not seem separable.
C. noctua mira (Witherby). Upper parts darker and less rufous brown than in "noctua" and brown streaks on underparts darker. Wing g 153-165, y 156-165 (W.).
and Flanders, British Isles (introduced).
C. noctua indigena (Brehm). Brown of upper and stripes of
underparts paler and redder than in "noctua" ; buff markings on central tail feathers almost obsolete or reduced to a few spots ; some e specimens have crown streaked rather than spotted. Resident.—Balkan Peninsula ; Greek Islands ; S. Russia to Poltava, Orenburg and Volga Delta.
C. noctua vidalii (A. E. Brehm). Smaller and darker than "noctua," spots more copious, whiter and more defined ; head streaked rather than spotted.
Resident.—S. Spain (possibly all Iberian Peninsula).
C. noctua glaux (Savigny). Brown of upper parts and streaks beneath paler than in "noctua," more reddish to chocolate brown.
Resident.—Egypt and N.W. Africa (Morocco to Tunis, north of Atlas).
C. noctua saharw (Kleinschmidt). A still paler desert form, brown tending to cinnamon colour.
Resident—S. Tunis and S. Algeria south of Atlas ; Sollum (W. Egypt).
C. noctua caucasica Sarudny and Loudoun. Intermediate be tween "C. n. glaux" and "bactriana " of S.W. Asia ; paler than "glaux" and toes are feathered in winter. Wing 161-166 Resident.—W. and S. Caspian districts, Caucasus.