STRJGlD.t. 



287 





THE TAWNY OWL. 



SvRNiUM ALUCO (Linn.Teu-). 



The Tawny, Brown, or \Vood-0\vl is still, in spite of molestation, 

 tolerably abundant in England and Wales wherever there are woods 

 or crags suited to its habits ; it is in fact much commoner in some 

 places than the White or Barn-Owl, though in others rapidly decreas- 

 ing. In the south of Scotland it is a well-known species, and of late 

 years it has extended its range on the mainland to Caithness and 

 Sutherland, while in the west it occurs in Skye and some of the 

 Inner Hebrides. In Ireland, strange to say, its presence has not 

 yet been authenticated. 



From the Faeroes this species was recorded in January and again 

 in March 187 1 ; on the latter occasion it was migrating in company 

 with some Long-eared Owls. In Norway it is numerous up to the 

 Trondhjems-fjord, above which it becomes rare ; but in Sweden its 

 northern range is, as usual, less extensive, though the bird is very 

 common in the southern parts of that country. Below 60^^-61° N. 

 lat. in Russia it is generally distributed as far as the western slopes 

 of the Ural Mountains, but on the eastern side it is scarce, and in 



