32 THE BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 



' Ornithological Dictionary ' : — '' It has been shot in York- 

 shire, and in Sussex, as well as in Scotland/^ 



The muscles of the thigh are stronger in this species, in 

 proportion to its size, than those of the same part of any- 

 other bird I have ever examined. I can find no further 

 record of the appearance of the Eagle-Owl in Sussex; and it 

 is not mentioned bvMarkwick"^. 



SCOPS-OWL. 



Scops gill. 



The only notice I can find of this little Owl having been 

 obtained in Sussex is that given by Mr. Knox, who says (0. 11. 

 p. 9495) : — '^ Of the occurrence of that rare visitor the Scops- 

 eared Owl, I can record only one instance in Sussex. It was 

 sliot some years ago at Shillinglee, the seat of the Earl of 

 AVinterton, and was subsequently in the possession of a 

 member of the family. ^^ 



Now, Mr. Knox^s own collection is at the present time at 

 Goodwood, and in it there is a specimen of the Scops-Owl ; 

 and in the MS. Catalogue it is thus referred to, in the hand- 

 Avriting of Mr. Knox : — " This bird is supposed to have been 

 shot near Plaistow, as reported by the late Mr. Kidd (A. D. 

 1838), but I have no other authority for its being a Sussex 

 specimen.^^ For this information I am indebted to Mr. F. 

 D. Godman, who very kindly obtained it for me through 

 Lord Walter Gordon Lennox. Now, as Plaistow is very near 

 to Shillinglee, there is a strong probability that this is the 

 specimen to which Mr. Knox refers in his O. R. 



* For tho Owls in Aruudel Castle, see Introduction. 



