2 94 LONG-EARED OWL. 



nestling in the Azores ; while in the Canaries this species breeds in 

 the palm-trees of the warm valleys as well as in the mountain forests ; 

 it is also found in North Africa from Morocco to Egypt. Eastward, 

 it has been recorded from Arabia ; it inhabits the wooded por- 

 tions of Asia north of the Himalayas as far as China and the Sea of 

 Japan, though it has not been found in Kamchatka ; and in winter 

 it visits Northern India. In North America it is represented by a 

 subspecies, A. ivilsoniiDiiis (Lesson), which has darker upper parts 

 and more closely barred under parts. 



The Eong-eared Owl usually deposits its eggs in an old squirrel's 

 drey, or some former nest of a Ring-Dove, Magpie, Crow, Rook, 

 Heron, and, on the Continent, of a Buzzard, Kite &c.j a little lining 

 of small thin sticks and rabbit's fur being often added. It lays very 

 early in the season, and even in Northumberland clutches of eggs have 

 been taken by February 22 nd. These, 4-6 in number, are white, 

 with a rather smooth but not glossy surface : measurements i '6 by 

 I "3 in. Several pairs may be found in close proximity, and I once 

 knew of eight broods in a fir-plantation which stretches along a 

 commanding ridge in Surrey. On May loth 1897, Mr. Ogilvie Grant 

 and Capt. Savile Reid found a nest on the ground on an island 

 in Eoch Syre, Sutherland (Irby). This Owl is nocturnal or crepus- 

 cular in its habits, and during the daytime is seldom to be found 

 in the open fields, except just after immigration. The pellets which 

 I have examined show that it feeds principally upon field-mice, young 

 rats, and birds up to the size of a Blackbird, though beetles and 

 other insects are sometimes eaten. The old birds occasionally make 

 a barking or ' quacking ' noise, while on the wing as well as when 

 perched ; but as a rule this species is rather silent, and certainly 

 does not ' hoot ' like the Tawny Owl. The nestlings utter a loud 

 mewing ; they often leave the nest before they can fly, and climb up 

 again, by the aid of their bills (R. J. Howard). 



The adult male has the upper parts buff, mottled and vermiculated 

 with brown and grey, and streaked with dark brown, especially on 

 the long erectile ear-tufts ; facial disk buff, with a greyish-black 

 margin and outer rim, and dark markings round the eyes ; under 

 parts warm buff and grey, with broad blackish longitudinal streaks 

 and minute transverse bars ; bill blackish ; operculum semicircular ; 

 legs covered to the toes with fawn-coloured feathers. Eength 14 in. ; 

 wing 11-5 in. It has been stated that the female is more rufous in 

 tint than the male. In the young the facial disk is yellower and the 

 markings on the under parts are more defined. 



