384 THE OWLS 



common shrews furnish the bulk of its food, but the longtailed field-mouse is also 

 commonly taken as well as the brown rat. Other mammals recorded in smaller 

 numbers are the bank-vole, rabbit, house-mouse, water-shrew, squirrel, and lesser- 

 shrew, as well as an occasional bat or young hare ; while among the birds, the 

 sparrow is the most frequent victim, but it is said to have taken pigeons on more 

 than one occasion. Beetles, lizards, fish, and frogs also figure on its dietary. I 

 have found eleven dead starlings in one nest, and have seen six rats, neatly arranged 

 in a row with their tails all pointing the same way, in another. For further notes 

 on the food of this bird see the papers referred to in the " Classified Notes " on the 

 whitebreasted barn-owl ( 5). [F. c. R. jr.] 



6. Song Period. Most vociferous during the breeding season. 



LONGEARED-OWL [Asio otiis (Linnaeus). Horned-owl. French, 

 moyen due ; German, Waldohreule ; Italian, gufo comune]. 



I. Description. The longeared is distinguished from the shorteared-owl 

 at a glance by the long " ear " tufts, the transverse barring and vermiculation of 

 the under parts, and the vermiculations of dark brown on a dull buff ground of the 

 upper surface. The female differs from the male in being slightly larger and darker. 

 (PI. 81.) Length 14 in. [355-60 mm.]. Eyes golden yellow. The facial disc has the 

 outer portion buff coloured, the inner white, with a patch of black above the eye, 

 while the periphery is outlined in black and white. The " horns " or " ear " tufts, an 

 inch and a half in length, and composed of seven or eight feathers, are dusky, with 

 an outer margin of white and an inner margin of buff. The upper parts are of a pale 

 buff, with broad dusky striations and faint mottlings of white. The scapulars and 

 wing-coverts are buff tipped with white, relieved by dusky shaft-streaks and 

 vermiculations ; but the hindmost and outermost scapulars and median coverts 

 have large white spots at the tips of the outer webs, forming more or less conspicuous 

 white areas. The secondaries have the outer webs brownish grey, with dusky 

 transverse bars and vermiculations, the inner webs buff, and similarly barred. The 

 primaries are of a rich buff, shading towards the tip into brownish grey, and heavily 

 barred with dark brown. The first primary has the outer web serrated, while the 

 margins of the second and third are emarginate,with serrations along the emarginated 

 region. The tail feathers are buff, shading towards the tip into brownish grey and 

 marked by dusky bars ; on the two middle feathers the bars are broader, and 

 flecked with buff. The breast and flanks are buff, the fore-breast relieved by dusky 



