276 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



Genus BUBO, Dumeril. 

 EAGLE OWL. 



Bubo bubo (LimicTus). S.N., i., p. 131 (1766). 



The first and only record of the occurrence of the 

 Eagle Owl in Kent is that given by Dr. Latham in his 

 General Synopsis, vol. i., part i., p. 1-16 (1781). He 

 states : " It has been shot in Scotland and in Yorkshire, 

 and, if a friend does not deceive me, has once been seen 

 in Kent, perched upon a gate, near to a large wood, in 

 the spring of 1770." 



Genus ATHENE, Boie. 



LITTLE OWL. 



Athene imsserina (Linnaeus). S.N., i., p. 133 

 (1766). 



The occurrences of the Little Owl in Kent are few, 

 and the first recorded was by Mr. Whitmore Baker 

 {Zoologist, 1856), vi^ho says : " A fine specimen of the 

 Little Owl was lately taken in the neighbourhood of 

 Maidstone, alive, and is so now in my possession ; it 

 being a rara avis, I thought it would be interesting to 

 ornithologists" (May, 1856). In the collection of Mr. 

 F. Bond is a specimen which was shot at Sevenoaks 

 in Kent, in 1862. It is recorded from Cuxton in Kent 

 by Mr. Pye, but without data. 



On May 25, 1906, a Little Owl was seen in a wood 

 near Bilsington, Kent. Its discovery was caused by a 

 lot of small birds, who created a hubbub and had mobbed 

 it, but it was sitting in an oak tree quite at ease. This 



