468 ASIO BRACHYOTUS. 



never flew towards each other, but went off in different direc 

 tions, as if unaware of each other"'s presence. Its predilection 

 for the ground forms a very distinctive pecuHarity in the habits 

 of this owl, as compared with the Long-eared ; for, although it 

 alights on bushes and trees, this seems more a matter of neces- 

 sity than of choice. The only nest of this bird that I have 

 found, contained four eggs, of a dull bluish- white, and of a 

 somewhat elongated or elliptical form, an inch and a half in 

 length, and an inch and an eighth in breadth. The nest, which 

 was placed under a low bush, and covered over by tall grass, 

 through which a path had been made by the bird, was formed 

 of dry grass, raked together in a slovenly manner, and quite 

 flat, but covering a large space, on one side of which were 

 found many pellets and two field-mice. On examining the 

 pellets I found them to be formed of the remains of bones of 

 small quadrupeds, mixed with hair, and the elytra of various 

 coleopterous insects. In its diurnal flight, the flappings of its 

 wings are noiseless, as in most other species, and it is apt to 

 sail many yards before alighting. Like the rest of the family, 

 when reposing, they stand as if crouched on the full length of 

 their tarsi, and the slight crests or tufts of feathers on their 

 head are, on such occasions, usually so lowered as to be scarcely 

 perceptible." 



The substances which I have found in the stomach, were 

 remains of field-mice, and small birds. Montagu found in the 

 stomach of one the fragments of a sky-lark and a yellow-hammer. 

 The male above described, which was shot in January 1836, 

 contained four heads of mice, with a great quantity of hair and 

 bones. One examined by Mr Harley, at Leicester, on the 1st 

 November 1839, contained " the entire hind foot of a field- 

 mouse and numerous small bones, likewise a great quantity of 

 fur, but no remains of beetles. This individual weighed 14 oz, 

 and measured in length 15 inches, in extent of wings 401."" 

 Mr Hepburn says, " one that I examined was shot at Tyning- 

 ham, the noble seat of the Earl of Haddington, on the 27th of 

 May 1838. The contents of its stomach were mice and coleop- 

 tera. On the 29th July 1839, I examined two newly fledged 

 Short-tufted Owls, shot in the morning of that day in the Birks 

 Wood in the parish of Whittingham." 



