ivoon OWL. 185 



times, whilst a rabbit-burrow or fox's hole is a not very- 

 exceptional site. Instances are on record of this Owl 

 breeding in a hen-house, and even in a disused dog- 

 kennel, lying on a lawn within thirty yards of a house ! 

 The eggs have also been found on the bare ground 

 under the branches of a fir tree. The Wood Owl makes 

 no nest, and the eggs are usually laid on an accumula- 

 tion of pellets or whatever may chance to be in the hole 

 — dry earth, deca3'-ed w'ood, dust, etc. The bird is a 

 close sitter, and often resents intrusion in a more or less 

 bellicose manner. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Wood Owl are three or four in number. 

 They are pure white, without markings, rotund in form, 

 somewhat smooth in texture, and slightly polished. 

 Average measurement, rS inch in length, by 1*5 inch in 

 breadth. Incubation, performed by both sexes, is said 

 by Naumann to last twenty-one days. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Wood 

 Owl are readily distinguished from those of all other 

 species of Owl breeding in the British Islands by their 

 size — thev are the largest of an v. 



Family STRIGID^. Genus Asio. 



Sub-family BUBONINM. 



SHORT-EARED OWL. 



Asio BRACHVOTUS {Forster). 



Single Brooded. Laying season, April and May. 



British breeding area: A few Short-eared Owls 

 still continue to breed in the fen counties of East 

 Anglia, but in the north of England and throughout 



