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and beautifully mottled with white, brown, and black, and light 

 red — hence it is called the mottled tufted owl. The plumage is 

 extremely soft ; the wings long and very broad ; the facial discs 

 and ruff round the eyes are complete ; the eyes are very large, 

 and the ear developed to its greatest extent, which makes the 

 long-eared owl the most typical and perfect as a nocturnal bird 

 of prey. The conch of the ear extends in a semilunar form 

 from over the eye to the very base of the lower mandible — its 

 posterior elevated margin being 3 inches long, its anterior raised 

 into a semicircular flap or operculum beset with recurved 

 feathers. Its long tuft of six or eight raised feathers, called ears, 

 about 1-J inch long, easily distinguishes it from the rest of our 

 indigenous owls, by which it is readily known. The irides are 

 orange ; the legs and toes are clothed with pale buff-coloured 

 feathers to the claws, which are long, very sharp, and curved. 

 It generally preys on field mice and moles — as many as five 

 skulls of mice have been found in its stomach at one time — the 

 mice being swallowed entire. To be such a common bird, it is 

 amusing to see how little our ornithologists seem to know of its 

 habits, and how much they disagree. Some maintain that it is 

 strictly nocturnal, " seldom seen hunting for prey before it is 

 quite dusk," and that " if Sol sometimes surprises the nocturnal 

 wanderer feasting on his prey in the meadow, he seeks the 

 friendly shelter of the hedgerow or neighbouring wood, where 

 he hopes to remain in peace until night again throws her veil 

 over Mature. Vain are his hopes, for a prying wren has 

 discovered the intruder, and sounds an alarm. The robin, the 

 whitethroat, the chanter, and other birds hasten to the spot. 

 First and foremost are the chaffinches — they buffet him, peck at 

 and menace him on every side, while the owl turns his eyes 

 from party to party, evading their blows as well as he can. The 

 uproar is now great, each bird in his mother tongue venting 

 execrations against the poor owl. On such occasions one may 

 get within a few feet of it. At length he takes wing, flies 

 a short distance, pursued by a chaffinch or two. On alighting 

 he is still persecuted, and unless he gain some suitable roosting- 

 place among the fir trees the alarm-notes of these watchful birds 

 are heard the livelong day." This is a very pretty picture of its 

 utter inability to hunt during the day, for as small birds are 

 always flying about in the daytime, the owl would be con- 

 tinually mobbed, according to Mr Hepburn, one of Macgillivray's 

 correspondents. Mr Luke and Mr Hewitson, on the other hand, 

 declare that "this species does not confine its flight entirely to 



