  Aims : We study an unknown, or very poorly known, interstellar HII component
in the Magellanic Clouds. This is the first study ever devoted to this class of
objects, which we call Low-excitation blobs (LEBs).
  Methods : We used low-dispersion spectroscopy carried out at ESO to obtain
emission line intensities of Ha, Hb, and [OIII] (4959+5007) for 15 objects in
the Large Magellanic Cloud and 14 objects in the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Results are displayed in excitation ([oiii]/Hb ratio) versus Hb luminosity
diagrams.
  Results : We show the presence of an LEB component in the Magellanic Clouds
and study its relationship with the already known class of high-excitation
blobs (HEBs). The newly found LEBs are lower excitation counterparts of HEBs
and are powered by less massive exciting stars. Further study of LEBs is
expected to provide new pieces of information for a better understanding the
low mass end of the upper initial mass function in the Magellanic Clouds.
