412 A lexander Goodman More Scientific Papers. 



OTUS BRACHYOTUS (Boie). Short-eared Owl. 



Provinces IV. X. XI. XII. ? XIII.-XVIII. 



Subprovinces 10, n, 12, 22, 24, 25 ?, 26-29, 34-37. 



Lat. 52-60. " Scottish " or Northern type. Not in Ireland. 



Breeds in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridge ; formerly also in 

 Huntingdon (Mr. F. Bond}. The nest has been once or twice taken 

 near Scarborough {Mr. A. . S. Bell}. In Durham and Northumberland 

 (Mr. Hancock and Rev. H. B. Tristram]. Sir W. Jardine also 

 mentions the moorland ranges of Westmoreland and Cumberland as 

 probable breeding-places. 



In Scotland, the Short-eared Owl nests regularly in Dumfries 

 (Sir W. Jardine], on Ailsa (Mr. R. Gray] ; in the counties of 

 Selkirk and Roxburgh occasionally (Mr. J. F. Whitecross'] ; in 

 Stirling (Mr. J. Murray], Clackmannan (Dr. P. Brotherson] ; in 

 Perth (Mr. A. Pullar}; in Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, Hebrides, 

 and Orkney. 



STRIX FLAMMEA (Z.). Barn- or White Owl. 



Provinces I.-XVII. 



Subprovinces 1-29, 30, 31, 32, 33-35. 



Lat. 50-59. " British " type, or general. 



Very rare in the north of Scotland, and nests only occasionally in 

 Ross and Caithness. 



Low states that it used to breed in Hoy ; but the bird has not been 

 recently seen in the Orkneys. 



SYRNIUM ALUCO (Cuv.}. Tawny Owl. 



Provinces I.-XVII. 



Subprovinces 1-32, 34, 35, 37 ? 



Lat. 50-59. " British " type, or general. Not in Ireland. 



Scarce in the north of Scotland, according to Macgillivray ; but is 

 reported by various correspondents as nesting regularly in the counties 

 of Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Nairn, Inverness, Ross, Sutherland, and 

 even in Caithness ; Low describes it as found in the more hilly part of 

 Orkney in summer. It is singular that this Owl should be so scarce in 

 Ireland, Thompson giving only a single instance of its occurrence. 



Obs. Several supposed instances of the Snowy Owl (Nyctea nivea, 

 Bonap.) breeding in the British Islands are on record. In the 

 ' Zoologist ' for 1856 (p. 5201), Mr. T. Edward gives an account of 

 a nest, containing two young birds, which was found in 1845 in a 

 narrow chasm on the promontory of Loggie Head, Banffshire ; but 

 in a letter which I have lately received from Mr. Edward, he tells 

 me that he did not see the birds himself. 



Mr. J. H. Dunn tells me that the Snowy Owl bred on the hills of 



