ivoon OWL. 185 



times, whilst a rabbit-burrow or fox's hole is a not very 

 exceptional site. Instances are on record of this Owl 

 breeding in a hen-house, and even in a disused dog- 

 kennel, lying on a lawn within thirty yards of a house ! 

 The eggs have also been found on the bare ground 

 under the branches of a fir tree. The Wood Owl makes 

 no nest, and the eggs are usually laid on an accumula- 

 tion of pellets or whatever may chance to be in the hole 

 — dry earth, decayed wood, dust, etc. The bird is a 

 close sitter, and often resents intrusion in a more or less 

 bellicose manner. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Wood Owl are three or four in number. 

 They are pure white, without markings, rotund in form, 

 somewhat smooth in texture, and slightly polished. 

 Average measurement, v^ inch in length, by 1-5 inch in 

 breadth. Incubation, performed by both sexes, is said 

 by Naumann to last twenty-one days. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Wood 

 Owl are readily distinguished from those of all other 

 species of Owl breeding in the British Islands by their 

 size — they are the largest of any. 



Family STRIGID^. Genus Asia 



Sub-family BUBONINAL. 



SHORT-EARED OWL. 



Asio BRACHYOTUS {Fovstcr). 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, April and May. 



British breeding area : A few Short-eared Owls 

 still continue to breed in the fen counties of East 

 Anglia, but in the north of England and throughout 



