LONG-EARED OWL. 133 



wood exists in the counties of Down and Antrim, it is a 

 common species. An individual, well acquainted with the 

 Long-eared Owl, said that in a close plantation of spruce 

 firs at Scoutbush, near Carrickfergus, he for several years 

 had its nest, which, in consequence of the trees being young, 

 were placed not higher than six feet from the ground. 

 The contents of the stomach of a Long-eared Owl, shot 

 at Killaloe, and examined by the Rev. Thomas Knox, 

 proved to be part of a rat, the skull of a mouse, and the 

 heads of two Sparrows." 



This species is found in most of the midland counties 

 of England, and is noticed by various authors as occurring 

 in Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, and Scotland. 

 It inhabits also Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and 

 the continent of Europe, from thence southward. In France 

 it is the most common of all the Owls, and is found in 

 Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Sicily. It has been traced as 

 far eastward as Astrakhan, and southward to Trebizond, 

 Egypt* an( ^ Africa. This bird also inhabits most of the 

 United States of America. A ccording to Sir John Richard- 

 son, it has been found as far north as latitude 60, and 

 probably exists as high as the forests extend. Captain 

 Back took one specimen on his last journey. It frequents 

 Hudson's Bay in the summer, but retires to the interior 

 during winter. 



The exposed portion of the beak is black ; the base and 

 cere are hid by the feathers of each inner side of the facial 

 disk ; the irides orange yellow ; radiating feathers of the 

 facial disk on each outer side pale brown, with a half 

 circular boundary line of darker brown ; on the inner side 

 varied with dusky brown at the base, and white towards 

 the tips ; the tufts on the head, an inch and a half in 

 length, are formed of about seven or eight feathers, longer 

 than wide, dark brownish black in the middle, with pale 



