TAWNY OWL 



BROWN OWL. 



PLATE XXIV. FIGURE II. 



Strix aluco, .... LINNAEUS. 



Syrnium aluco, .... JENYNS. TEMMINCK. 



THE nidification of this bird commences in March. The 

 nest, if it deserves the name, is formed of a few 

 soft feathers, a few straws, or a little moss, sometimes 

 merely of the decayed wood in the hollow of the tree 

 in which it is placed. One has been observed so low 

 down that a person could see into it from the ground. 

 Occasionally it is built in rocks, sometimes, it is said, in 

 barns and the like buildings, or even in the deserted 

 nests of other birds, such as Rooks, Crows, and Mag- 

 pies. The young are hatched in April. They continue 

 to perch among the branches of the trees in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the nest before finally taking their leave 

 of it, and are fed during the interval by the parent 

 birds. 



Mr. Seebohm suggests that, as the eggs and unfledged 

 young are sometimes taken up to August, it is possible that 

 the bird has two or more broods during the season. 



The eggs are smooth and white, and from three to four 

 VOL. i. 49 G 



