Tlie Olds. 



107 



THE 



LOXG-EARED 



OWL. 



(Asia vtus.) 



The Long-Eared Owl. 



It makes no nest to speak of and the white 

 eggs, four to six in number, are laid at the 

 bottom of a hole in a tree or building. 



All the 'Eared' Owls, 

 as they are called, and the 

 ' Wood ' Owls belong to 

 a separate S u b - f a m il y 

 Syrniinir, which are remark- 

 able for their complete facial disk, and for the 

 large operculum which shuts in the ear-openings. 

 The Long-eared Owl has ver_v distinct feather- 

 tufts on the head, and these it is able to erect : 

 the plumage is thickly mottled and lined 

 with blackish. It looks like an Eagle Owl 

 in miniature, but is not half the size, and on 

 the under parts it has some very broad black 

 streaks. It is found throughout the British 

 Islands, nesting in the darkest recesses of the 

 pine-woods, and it breeds throughout Europe 

 and Northern Asia, as well as in the Hima- 

 layas. It is strictly a night-flying bird, preferring to sit during the day-time in the 

 dark shade of the woods, generally near its nest, which is usually an old one 

 of some Crow or Hawk. Its food consists of rats, mice, and small birds. The 



eggs, from four to seven in number, are white, 

 with a slight gloss. 



This Owl is of about the 

 THE 

 SHORT-EARED 



OWL. 

 (Ai'w accipitrinus.) 



same size as the preceding 

 species, but is rather a 

 stouter bird, and is to be told 

 at once by the short feather- 

 tufts or 'ears' on the head, and by the lighter 

 colour of the plumage, especially underneath, 

 where the breast is broadly streaked with brown, 

 but there are no wavy cross-lines or vermi- 

 culations as in A. otus. It nests in the northern 

 parts of England and in Scotland, and is found 

 over the rest of the United Kingdom in winter 

 and during migration. Its breeding home ex- 

 tends from Northern Europe and Siberia to 

 Kamtchatka. and it is also found across North 

 America. On migration it extends occasionally 



The Short-Eared Owl. 



