22 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE TAWNY OWL. 

 (Syrnium aluco.)* 



Plate C, Fig. 9. 



The Wood or Tawny-Owl is not so common in Great Britain 

 as it used to be, but is still to be found in most wooded districts 

 of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It is found throughout the 

 greater part of Europe, to the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia. In 

 West Eussia its range does not extend to Archangel, and in East 

 Kussia it is said not to be found north of 58° North Lat. It has 

 not been recorded from Siberia. The southern range of the 

 Wood-Owl extends into North Africa. In Algeria it is a resident, 

 and it has once occurred in Egypt. It is found in Asia Minor 

 and Palestine, and has been obtained in the Caucasus, but not 

 yet in Persia. 



The Wood-Owl nests as a rule about the last week of March 

 or the first week in April. The situations chosen by the birds 

 are various ; the favourite sites being hollow trees, holes in cliffs, 

 and sometimes rabbit-burrows. No real nest is made, the bird 

 merely scratching a hole in the earth when laying in holes of 

 cliffs or under roots ; and when making use of old nests it does 

 not seem to re-line them at all. 



The number of eggs are generally three or four, and are much 

 larger than those of the Barn-Owl. They are pure and spotless 

 white, round in form, but the texture of the shell is much 

 smoother than the Barn-Owl's, and far more highly polished. 

 They measure from 1*9 to 1"7 inch in length, and from 1*6 to 

 1'45 inch in breadth. 



THE LONG-EARED OWL. 



{Asio otus.)\ 



Plate 6, Fig. 4. 



The Long-eared Owl is generally distributed throughout the 

 British Islands, being most common in those districts which 

 abound in pine-forests. It has not been met with in Greenland, 

 but is an accidental visitor to Iceland and the Orkney and Shet- 



* Strix aluco— Seebohm, Brit. B., I., p. 154 (1883). 

 t Strix otus— Seebohm, Brit. B., I., p. 160 (1883). 



