14 BIEDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



Burlington had an Eagle Owl alive in the park at 

 Chiswick ; and Edwards, in his 'Natural History of 

 Birds,' mentions one that was kept " at the Mourn- 

 ing Bush Tavern, by Aldersgate, London." Sir 

 Hans Sloane, too, had one of these birds which he 

 kept for many years alive in London, and which was 

 well know^n to the curious of his time. 



Long-eared Owl, Strix otus. This species is 

 partial to woods and plantations, where it remains 

 concealed during the day, and from its retired habits 

 it is not often that an opportunity occurs for ob- 

 serving it. A male bird in the collection of Mr. 

 Bond was obtained in Colin Deep Lane, Hendon; 

 and one in my own collection was shot at the Well 

 Springs, Kingsbury, on the last day of December, 

 1862. This latter bird was in company with another, 

 which was also shot, but which I did not see. I 

 think it very probable, however, that they were a 

 pair. In June, 18G1, some eggs of this species 

 were taken from an old tree in Wembley Park, and 

 one of the birds which was caught on the nest was 

 afterwards sold in London. On the 29th Ma}^ 1863, 

 I obtained four eggs of the Long-eared Owl from a 

 hollow tree in Canon's Park, Edgeware ; and more 

 recently T have seen a Long-eared Owl, which was 

 shot in January, 1865, in Forty Lane, between 

 Kingsbury and Preston; and another in the col- 

 lection of Mr. Mitford, of Hampstead, which was 

 obtained in that neighbourhood. This species was 



