EARED OWLS 1915 



always of a uniform brown; the toes being either feathered or bare. The Indian 

 brown wood owl, which is uniform chocolate brown above, becoming darker on the 

 head, attains a length of twenty-eight inches; it is replaced in the Himalayas by 

 the rather smaller Nipal brown wood owl (S. newarense~). 



Although several groups of owls are furnished with the tufts of 

 feathers, commonly denominated ears, it will be convenient to restrict 

 the title of eared owls to the members of the genus Asio, which includes the common 

 long and short-eared owls of Britain. While agreeing with those of the two pre- 

 ceding genera in the structure of their ears and the form of the facial disc, the owls 

 of this genus are readily distinguished by the presence of longer or shorter ear tufts, 

 and also by the cere being of much greater length. In all of them the lower mandi- 

 ble is notched; the tube of the ear very large; the wings long, usually with the 

 second quill the longest; and the legs and toes are generally more or less feathered 

 to the claws. They are all purely nocturnal birds, seldom or never hunting by day, 

 and not leaving their roosts till evening. They may frequent either woods or open 

 country, and nest either in trees or on the ground. Their flight is very silent, and 

 their cry a loud hoot. The species are few. 



The short-eared owl {A. accipitrinus) is a common and well-known 

 British species, having an almost world-wide distribution, and ranging 

 from the Arctic regions to South America and Africa, although un- 

 known in Australia and Oceania. The distinctive characteristic of the species is 

 the shortness of the ear tufts, which are less than the length of the third toe and 

 claw. The general color of the upper parts is fulvous or tawny, with each feather 

 streaked with brown down the middle; whereas in the allied Cape eared-owl (A. 

 capensis} the same surface is uniform brown. In the common species the under 

 parts are pale buff, with streaks of blackish brown; the wings and tail are barred 

 with brown (five stripes on the latter); the facial disc dusky with a whitish border; 

 the beak horn color; and the iris golden yellow. The whole length of the bird 

 varies from fourteen to fifteen inches, and, when closed, the wings reach beyond the 

 end of the tail. 



Widely distributed in Great Britain, the short-eared owl breeds but sparingly, 

 many of the specimens seen being merely winter visitants. In place of frequenting 

 woods and groves, this owl haunts open moors, fields, either stubble, grass, or 

 turnips, and generally nests on the ground rather than on trees or bushes. Al- 

 though mainly nocturnal, if flushed during the day as not unfrequently happens 

 in partridge shooting it flies strongly and well; and it is even said to hunt its prey 

 at times in cloudy weather during daylight. Its cry is said to resemble the words 

 keaw-keaw. In most parts of Europe the chief food of the short-eared owl consists 

 of voles, but in Scandinavia it preys almost exclusively on lemmings. It also kills 

 small birds and beetles. At such times as plagues of the short-tailed vole have 

 made their appearance in the British Islands, it has been this owl which has made its 

 appearance in the greatest numbers to prey upon the obnoxious rodents; and it also 

 collects in similar flocks during the periodical migrations of the lemming in Norway. 

 It is a curious circumstance that although the number of eggs laid by this bird is 

 generally four, yet when food is unusually abundant, as during a lemming migra- 



