286 SHORT-EARED OWI,. 



throughout Europe, breeding in suitable locaUties down to the south 

 of Russia, Italy, Sicily and Malta. In the Spanish Peninsula it has 

 not yet been known to nest, though abundant there in winter ; but 

 in Morocco it is said to pair with an African species, Asio capensis 

 (which visits Spain), and it is found in Africa as far south as Natal. 

 Its range extends all over the temperate portions of Asia and even 

 as far south as Singapore ; in the Pacific it has been obtained in the 

 Sandwich, Ladrones and Caroline groups ; while on the continent 

 and islands of America it occurs from Greenland to the Straits 

 of Magellan. No other species of Owl has so wide a range, but its 

 breeding-limits in the south are as yet imperfectly defined. 



In the fens the nest is a mere hollow formed on the top of a 

 clump of sedge or in the side of a mass of mown reeds; but on the 

 moors the eggs are laid in tufts of heather ; they are often 6 or even 

 8 in number, rather smooth in texture, and creamy-white in colour : 

 average measurements i'6 by 1*25 in. They are generally laid early 

 in May, though the young are sometimes unable to fly by the be- 

 ginning of August. At one nest visited by Mr. A. H. Evans, Mr. 

 Seebohm and myself, the parent birds uttered no sound, but hovered 

 high in the air and circled round, occasionally fluttering their wings 

 in a manner indicative of anxiety; at another the sitting bird flapped 

 away after one harsh scream. The food consists of rats, field-mice, 

 lemmings, and other rodents, birds from the size of a Lark to that of 

 a Plover, and occasionally of bats, fish, reptiles, and large insects. 

 This Owl is often seen pursuing its prey in daylight, and it has 

 been known to pick up and carry off wounded birds. 



The plumage of the upper parts in the adult is similar to that 

 in the preceding species, but it is more blotched than streaked, 

 the buff" tint is more pronounced, the facial disk and the rim are 

 browner, and the ear-tufts, though erectile, are short and invisible 

 except when the bird is excited ; the under parts are streaked longi- 

 tudinally with blackish-brown, but not transversely barred or vermicu- 

 lated ; bill black; operculum semicircular. Length 14-15 in. ; wing 

 about 12 in. ; the female being slightly larger than the male. The 

 young bird is browner and darker, with bolder markings, and is very 

 tawny on the under parts, while the iris is pale sulphur instead of rich 

 yellow. Pallid forms are not uncommon, and specimens from differ- 

 ent parts of the enormous area inhabited by this Owl vary consider- 

 ably in tint. 



