152 



O WLS. 



portions of its range it takes place in March or April. In defence of their eggs or 

 young, both sexes of the short-eared owl display but little boldness, usually circling 

 round and round the intruder, uttering a shrill cry, accompanied by a snapping of 

 the beak, but not making any attempt at a direct attack. 



As its name implies, the long-eared owl (A. otus) belongs to a 

 group of which there are three or four representatives, characterised 

 by the great length of the ear-tufts, which are about as long as the third toe and 

 claw. From its beautifully mottled plumage, of which the general colour above is 



Long-Eared Owl 



SCOPS OWL AND LONG-EARED OWL (J liat. size). 



blackish brown variegated with orange-buff, while beneath it is orange-brown 

 streaked and barred with black, this owl is one of the handsomest of the British 

 species. The facial disc is dusky white, with hair-like lines of brown, while 

 immediately round the eyes the feathers are blackish. The head is finely mottled 

 dusky and tawny ; and both the quills and tail feathers are barred with dark 

 brown, the number of such bands on the tail being seven. The bill is dusky horn- 

 colour, and the iris of the eye orange-yellow. In size this owl is rather inferior to 

 the short-eared species, its total length being 13 J inches. The typical form of the 

 long-eared owl is distributed all over Europe as far north as the 64th parallel, while 

 southwards it ranges to North Africa in winter, and eastwards it extends to China, 

 Japan, and North- Western India. In North America, as far south as Mexico, it 

 is replaced by the American long-eared owl, regarded by Dr. Sharpe as a mere 



