io8 



British Birds. 





*'V.*»3 



THE 

 WOOD-OWL. 

 {Svniiuiii illlico.) 



The VVood-Oul. 



as far as South Africa, and the British 



Museum has received a specimen from the 



18^ ^P^ "^ Seychelles. The Short-eared Owl is quite 



at home in the daylight, and is often flushed 

 by shooting-parties in the autumn from 

 the turnip-fields. Its food consists almost 

 entireh' of mice, but it is also said to prey 

 on small birds, reptiles, insects, and e\'en 

 fish. The eggs, from si.\ to eight in num- 

 ber, are white, and are laid in a depression 

 of the ground, there being seldom any 

 attempt at a nest. 



The ' Tawny ' Owl, 

 as this species is often 

 called, is a stouter bird 

 altogether than either 

 the Long or Short-eared Owls, but it has 

 the same large operculum to the ear : it 

 is distinguished, however, at a glance by the complete absence of ear-tufts. It 

 has two distinct phases (if plumage, a rufous one and a grey, in which the markings 

 and mottlings are the same, but the tone of colour is quite different. Many Owls 

 and Night-jars have this peculiar double phase of plumage, which appears not to 

 be dependent upon age, sex, or season. Nor do I think that locality or altitude 

 have anything to do with causing this difterence in plumage. Although not found in 

 Ireland, the Wood-Owl is distributed over the greater part of Kngland and Scotland, 

 and is spread also over the whole of Europe. It is a 

 wood-loving species andonly comes forth atnight.when 

 its hooting note is constantly to be heard. It teeds on 

 small mammalia, and sometimes catches young game- 

 birds as well as rabbits. The eggs are three or four in 

 number, white, rather glossy and about one-and -three- 

 quarter inches in length. They are laid in a hole of a 

 tree, or building, but have also been found in a rabbit- 

 burrow or in the old nest of a Crow or Sparrow-hawk. 

 This is a small species, about 

 nine-and-a-half inches in length, 

 similar in many respects to the 

 Wood-Owls, but having the ear- 

 conches on each side of the skull asymmetrical, the 

 right one being placed higher than the left, as it to 

 enable the bird to hear towards the skv with one ear. 



TENGMALM'S 

 OWL. 



(Nyctala teiigmcdmi.) 



Teno.malm's Owl. 



