132 SHORT-EARED OWL. 



The nest, which is built on the ground among long grass, 

 heather, rushes, or fern, is composed of moss, hay, or grass, 

 or even formed by a mere hollow in the earth. The young 

 have been found seated on the ground near the nest before 

 they were able to fly. 



The eggs, which are white, are from three to five in 

 number. 



The whole plumage of these birds is very soft. Male; 

 weight, about eleven ounces; length, one foot two to one foot 

 three inches; bill, bluish or brownish black, and partly con- 

 cealed by the plumage; cere, the same, the feathers about it 

 also white with black shafts. Iris, yellow, with a tinge of 

 red, surrounded by a ring of brownish black passing into 

 white, and broadest behind; the feathers of the wreath which 

 encircles the face are striped with light ferruginous and 

 black, the latter predominating near the ears. The head 

 dusky, the feathers edged with light ferruginous. The crown 

 is furnished with two tufts or 'soi-disant' ears, but which in 

 this species are not very conspicuous, and are chiefly set up 

 when the bird is asleep or in a quiescent state. Bewick says 

 that if frightened, the tufts are depressed, but the fact is 

 that their then appearance is rather caused by all the 

 feathers of the head being raised, so as nearly to hide the 

 former. The tufts, which are placed near together, are com- 

 posed of three or four feathers not much longer than the 

 other feathers of the head, the longest being less than an 

 inch in length; they are dusky on the outer webs and 

 yellowish white on the inner. Neck, nape, chin, and throat, 

 pale buff, with oblong dark brown streaks; breast, pale buff, 

 sometimes darker, streaked with dark brown, wider above 

 and narrower lower down on the shafts of the feathers, which 

 are edged with yellowish. Back, dusky, the feathers edged 

 with light ferruginous. 



The wings, long and broad, and expand to the width of 

 about three feet, or a little more; underneath they are 

 yellowish white, the dark bars on the inner webs shewing 

 through: they reach about an inch beyond the tail. Greater 

 and lesser wing coverts, mottled with dark dusky and fer- 

 ruginous, some of them spotted with yellowish white ; primaries, 

 very broad, yellowish salmon-colour, greyish towards the tips, 

 white at the base of the outer webs: the second is the 

 longest, the third nearly as long, the fourth a little shorter 

 than the first; some of the quills are strongly serrated on 



