UNIVERSITY 



^S A -IFOR^' 



TAWNY OWL. 



Ulula stridula. SELBY. 



PLATE XXVIII. 



Slrix stridula, Linn. Chouette hulotte, Temm. Ulula 



stridula, Selby Tawny Owl, Brown Owl, Ivy Owl of 



British Ornithologists. 



MOST of our writers on British Ornithology have 

 recorded this bird as being next to the White Owl, 

 the most common of our natives ; Montague calls 

 it " by far the most plentiful Owl in England." 

 So far as our observations in the North of England 

 and South of Scotland have extended, this is not 

 the case, the Long- eared Owl appearing much more 

 plentiful, and more generally distributed. "While 

 in Ireland, although it is mentioned in the statis- 

 tical surveys, it has never occurred to Mr Thomp- 

 son, and we are perhaps without any direct autho- 

 rity for its occurrence there. Like the greater 

 part of the family, it is strictly arboreal in its 

 habits, delighting in dark or gloomy woods of pine 

 or evergreen, enjoying there a grateful shade by 

 day, and a secure retreat for its nest and young in 

 the hollows of the more aged, or the deserted nests 

 which have been placed near the summit of the 



