374 ALUCO STRIDULUS. 



Habits. — This species appears to be pretty gene- 

 rally distributed in Britain. In England it is said to 

 be nearly equally common with Strix flammea ; but 

 this certainly is not the case in Scotland, and in the 

 northern parts of that country it is not met with. It 

 is strictly crepuscular and nocturnal, resting by day on 

 some tree in the midst of the thick woods, from whence 

 it issues in the twilight. When forced from its retreat 

 during the day, it seems bewildered, being evidently 

 oppressed by the glare of light. Its food consists of 

 small quadrupeds, such as moles and mice, birds of va- 

 rious kinds, beetles and other insects. In the stomach 

 of one I was surprised to find a large quantity of earth- 

 worms, cut into fragments about lialf an inch long ; and 

 several persons have stated that it feeds also on fish. At 

 night it occasionally utters a harsh scream, and emits 

 a low sound resembling the syllables hoo-hoo-hoo. 

 " This is its cry," says Buffon, " hou ou ou ou ou oit ou, 

 which has a considerable resemblance to the cry of the 

 wolf, a circumstance which induced the Latins to give 

 it the name of ulula, which comes from ululare^ to howl 

 or cry like the wolf." 



Propagation. — According to Montagu, it breeds 

 in the hollows of trees, sometimes in barns, prepares 

 very little nest, or even deposits its eggs on the de- 

 cayed wood. M. Temminck states that it lays its eggs 

 in the deserted nests of buzzards, crows, and magpies. 

 According to the former, the eggs are two, rarely 

 three ; while the latter makes them four or five. They 

 are pure white, elliptical, at an average an inch and 

 eleven-twelfths long, an inch and seven-twelfths across. 



