26 EGGS OF BEITISH BIRDS. 



The nest of this Owl is a simple structure, made of a few 

 lichens, mosses, and feathers, sometimes placed in a hole in the 

 ground, at others on some steep bank or cliff, or on some little 

 eminence rising above the surrounding plains, where it is nothing 

 more than a hollow scraped in the reindeer-moss. 



The eggs are from six to eight in number, somtimes more, 

 creamy-white in colour, and somewhat rough in texture, with 

 little gloss. They are smaller than the eggs of the Eagle Owl, 

 and, as a rule, a little more elongated. They vary from 2£ to 2 

 inches in length, and from 1*8 to 1'6 inch in breadth. 



THE HAWK-OWL. 

 (Sumia funerea.)* 



At least six specimens of Hawk-Owls have been obtained in the 

 British Islands, and some of these have been identified as the 

 American species, Sumia funerea, as distinguished from the 

 European form, S. ulula. I recognise a third race from Siberia, 

 which should bear the name of Sumia doliata (Pallas) . 



The Hawk-Owl may therefore be considered a circumpolar 

 bird. Its breeding-season appears to commence in the middle 

 of April, and to last till the end of June. It makes no nest ; 

 and the eggs are usually laid in the hole of a decayed pine-tree, 

 and rest on the powdered wood alone, as is the case with the 

 eggs of the Woodpeckers. 



The eggs are from five to eight in number, white, smooth, and 

 possessed of considerable gloss. They measure from 1*65 to 1"55 

 inch in length, and from 1*25 to 1'17 inch in breadth. As they 

 cannot be distinguished from those of the Short-eared Owl, I have 

 not considered it necessary to figure them. 



THE EAGLE-OWL. 



(Bubo maximus.)\ 

 Plate 6, Fig. 8. 

 The present species has been many times recorded from different 

 portions of the British Islands, but it is probable that many of the 



* Surma ulula— Sharpe, Handb. Brit. B., II., p. 87. 

 f Bubo ignavus — Saunders, Manual, p. 299. Bubo bubo, Sharpe, Handb. p. 78. 



