296 SHORT-EARED OWL. 



This migratory species is a wanderer to the Faeroes, and its 

 occurrence has been twice authenticated in Iceland ; while it is the 

 commonest of the Owls visiting Heligoland. From 70° N. lat. to 

 the shores of the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, it is gene- 

 rally distributed throughout Europe, breeding in suitable localities 

 down to the south of Russia, Italy, Sicily and Malta. In the 

 Spanish Peninsula it has not yet been known to nest, though 

 abundant there in winter, while in jNIorocco it meets with an African 

 species, Asio capensis (which visits Spain) ; it occurs on the Salvage 

 Islands (between Madeira and the Canaries), and is found far south 

 in Africa. Its breeding-range extends over Northern Asia to 

 Kamchatka ; while in winter the species has been obtained in China 

 down to Canton, and in Singapore, as well as in the Sandwich, 

 Ladrones and Caroline groups. On the continent and islands of 

 America it occurs from Greenland to the Straits of Magellan ; nest- 

 ing where suitable food and conditions exist, and following-up 

 invasions of small rodents. 



In the fens the nest is a mere hollow formed on the top of a clump 

 of sedge or in the side of a mass of mown reeds ; but on the moors the 

 eggs are laid among heather; they are usually 6 in number — though 

 up to 12 were frequent during the vole-plague — and are rather smooth 

 in texture, and creamy-white in colour : measurements i"6 by i"25 in. 

 They are generally laid early in May, though young may be found 

 unable to fly in August. The food consists of rats, field-mice, voles, 

 lemmings, and other rodents, birds from the size of a lark to that 

 of a plover, and occasionally of bats, fish, reptiles, and large insects. 

 This Owl pursues its prey in daylight, and has been known to pick 

 up and carry off wounded birds. . 



In the adult the plumage of the upper parts is similar to that of 

 the preceding species ; but it is more blotched than streaked, the buff 

 tint is more pronounced, the facial disk and the rim are browner, and 

 the ear-tufts, though erectile, are short and invisible, except when the 

 bird is excited ; the under parts are streaked longitudinally with 

 blackish-brown, but are not transversely barred or vermiculated ; 

 bill black ; operculum semicircular. Length i4"5-i5 in. : wing 

 about 12 in. ; the female being slightly larger than the male. The 

 young bird is browner and darker, with bolder markings, and is 

 very tawny on the under parts, while the iris is pale sulphur-yellow, 

 instead of the rich yellow found in the adult. Pallid forms of this 

 Owl are not uncommon, and specimens from different parts of the 

 enormous area inhabited vary considerably in tint. 



