PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



to about lat. 61 N. and the Ural range on the east aide. In the British Isles it is 

 fairly common in most wooded districts of England and Wales, while in Scotland it 

 is general in the south and in the Great Glen, while it has increased ito range north- 

 ward and is now found in Sutherland and Caithness, as well as on Skye and the 

 wooded islands of the Inner Hebrides, but no definite proof of its occurrence in 

 Ireland is as yet forthcoming, [r. c. R. J.] 



3. Migration. Resident and stationary. Single records from the Faeroes 

 and from Heligoland are evidence of exceptional migration, but, as a rule, the 

 special is conspicuously non-migratory. In this connection it has been described 

 as follows : " One of the most sedentary of our native birds, this owl rarely 

 n Mllim. and I can find no evidence whatever of any migratory movement 

 taking place either locally or generally " (Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 254). 



I A. I.. T. ] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Generally the brown-owl prefers to breed in a hole, 

 usually in a tree, but occasionally on ledges of rocks, and, more rarely, inside build- 

 ings, such as old barns or ruins, or in crevices of cliffs. When hollow trees are not 

 available, the brown-owl will take possession of an old nest of buzzard, sparrow- 

 hawk, magpie, rook, crow, or squirrel, and will sometimes breed thus in the middle 

 of a rookery. Several instances are also on record of nesting on the ground (as in 

 the case of the longeared-owl) at the foot of trees, or in rabbit burrows, or under 

 shelter of branches (cf. British Birds, iv. pp. 24-25). (PI. xxxiv.) No nesting 

 material is used, and the eggs, which are large, pure white, and more glossy than 

 most owls' eggs, are generally from 2-4 in number, though clutches of 5 and even 

 6 have occasionally been met with, and are laid at intervals of tjvo days or so. 

 (PI. E*.) Average size of 100 eggs, 1-84 x 1*52 in. [46-9 x 38-7 mm.]. The breeding 

 season generally begins about the middle of March, but occasionally clutches may 

 be found at the end of February or during April. Reliable data as to the period 

 of incubation seem to be wanting : Naumann merely states that the hen incubates 

 for over three weeks, but it is improbable that the period lasts for less than four 

 weeks. Occasionally the male bird is very savage, and resents an approach to the 

 nest in no undecided way, striking hard from behind at the head of the intruder. 

 Only a single brood is normally reared in the season, but an instance of a nest 

 with eggs in September in Dumfriesshire is recorded by Mr. R. Service in the 

 Zoologist, 1892, p. 424. [r. c. R. J.] 



5. Food. The diet of this species is much like that of the white-owl, but it 

 is a more powerful bird and more inclined to attack larger game. Field-voles and 



