THE LONG-EARED OWL 



AS10 OTUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A widely distributed 

 resident, its numbers increased in autumn by migratory- 

 individuals. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The present species is certainly the rarest and 

 the most local of the Owls to be met with in the Metro- 

 politan area. Possibly the absence of dense fir-woods 

 and other suitable haunts may be the reason. I know 

 of no regular resort of this Owl within eight miles of St. 

 Paul's, but it may possibly breed at Wembley and Pinner 

 in the north-west, in the Bushey district, and in the Grays 

 in the south. I know of no Essex resort. Just beyond 

 our limits this Owl certainly breeds at Windsor, Burnham, 

 and Farnham, and also near Uxbridge. 



It is with some diffidence that I include the Long- 

 eared Owl in the present work, and I do so chiefly because 

 there is a strong possibility of the bird being overlooked 

 in many of the outlying districts well within the fifteen- 

 mile radius. Pine- and fir-woods are the favourite haunts 

 of this Owl, and where it does occur several pairs not 

 unfrequently resort to the same neighbourhood. In its 

 habits it very closely resembles the Tawny Owl. It is 

 just as nocturnal and retiring, passing the day in some 

 dark, secluded spot amongst ivy, in a hole in a tree, or in 

 the dark crown of a pine. It also has the same habit as 

 the Tawny Owl of sleeping whilst pressed close up to the 

 trunk of a tree, where its beautifully mottled plumage 

 so closely resembles the bark that detection is difficult. 

 The approach of twilight arouses the Long-eared Owl 

 into activity, and it comes forth into the open in quest 

 of food. In soft and noiseless flight it quarters the 



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