STREAKED TUFTED-OWL. 4] 9 



but generally hides itself in long grass or fern, and 

 seems partial to open, barren situations. When dis- 

 turbed it flies a little way, and lights again on the 

 ground. In dusky weather it will prey by day, and 

 sometimes fly at small birds as well as mice." 



Mr Selby has, in autumn, " often met them in turnip 

 fields, but never seen them in plantations ; nor do they 

 ever," he continues, '- attempt to perch upon a tree. 

 Five or six of these birds are frequently found rodsting 

 together ; from which circumstance, it is probable that 

 they migrate in families." 



Dr Richardson, who found it in the fur countries of 

 North America, states that it is often seen hunting for 

 its prey in the day-time. " Its principal haunts are 

 dense thickets of young pine-trees, or dark and en- 

 tangled willow clumps, where it sits on a low branch, 

 watching assiduously for mice. When disturbed, it 

 flies low for a short distance, and then hides itself in 

 the heart of a bush, from whence it is not easily driven. 

 Its nest, formed of withered grass and moss, is placed 

 on a dry spot of ground ; and, according to Mr Hutchins, 

 it lays ten or twelve small, round, white eggs :" — a 

 goodly number, truly, for an owl. 



Propagation. — It has been seen that this species 

 breeds in Orkney : Sir William Jardine has also found 

 it breeding in Dumfriesshire, and in his edition of Wil- 

 son's American Ornithology, he has inserted a note, 

 which, with other interesting particulars, contains the 

 following statement. " On the extensive moors at the 

 head of Dryfe, a small rivulet in Dumfriesshire, I have, 

 for many years past, met with one or two pairs of these 

 birds, and the accidental discovery of their young first 



