STRIGID/E. 



2q; 



THE TAWNY OWL. 



Syrnium aluco (Linnaeus). 



The Tawny, Brown, or Wood-Owl familiarly called " the Hooter," 

 is tolerably abundant in England and Wales, wherever there are 

 woods or crags suited to its habits ; it is in fact commoner in some 

 places than the White or Barn-Owl, though decreasing in others. 

 In the south of Scotland it is well-known, while it is quite the most 

 numerous Owl in the Moray basin, and has extended its range on 

 the mainland to Caithness and Sutherland ; in the west, it occurs in 

 Skye and several of the Inner Hebrides. In Ireland its presence 

 has not yet been authenticated. 



Erom the Faeroes this exceptionally migratory species was recorded 

 in January and again in March, 1871 : on the latter occasion in 

 company with some Long-Eared Owls. In Norway it is numerous 

 up to the Trondhjemsfjord, above which it becomes rare ; but in 

 Sweden its northern range is less extensive, though the bird is com- 

 mon in the southern parts of that country. In Heligoland it has 

 only once occurred in half a century. Below 6o°-6i° N. lat. in 

 Russia it is generally distributed as far as the western slopes of the 

 Ural Mountains, but on the east side it is scarce, and is as yet 



