STRIGIDE. 3) 
Fanily StRIGIDz. 
I now come to the last branch of the Raptorial 
Order, the Strigide, or Owls. Of these I have not 
been able to include so large a per-centage amongst 
the Somersetshire birds as I have of the Falconide, 
being only able to include four out of the eleven 
Species at present recognized as British. 
LONGEARED Own, Otus vulgaris. The Longeared 
Owl is said to be not uncommon in the wilder parts 
of the county; indeed, in the West, it is said to be 
much more common than the shorteared species, 
next to be noticed: this, however, does not accord 
with my own experience, or with the relative num- 
bers of the two species that are occasionally to be 
seen at the birdstuffers’ shops at Taunton. The last 
of the present species that I have seen was brought 
into Mrs. Turle’s on the 5th of November, 1864: it 
had been killed near Combe Sydenham. 
The Longeared Owl is resident with us all the 
year, but in consequence of its retired and nocturnal 
habits is seldom seen. 
On the subject of food, I shall have, for the first 
time, to quote a paper which appeared in the ‘ Zoolo- 
gist’ for the year 1863 (p. 8760), on the “ Food of 
Small Birds,’ which gives a notice of the contents 
of the stomachs of eighteen different species of birds 
