NYCTALAASIO 483 



bill dirty yellow ; iris bright yellow. Culmen 07, wing 6'7, tail 4'40, 

 tarsus 0'75 inch. Female similar but larger. The young bird is darker, 

 and the nestling is sooty umber above, slightly spotted with white and 

 with dull yellowish brown below. 



Hob. Scandinavia and N. Russia almost to the northern 

 forest limit, south to the Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians, and the 

 Caspian ; Siberia east to the Baikal, south to the Altai ; not 

 found in Kamchatka ; of irregular occurrence in Great Britain ; 

 N. America south to the United States. Is strictly nocturnal 

 and inhabits the forests throughout its range. 



Its cry is a single melancholy call uttered at short intervals 

 and heard only at night. Its food consists of small mammals 

 and birds, and also, it is said, of beetles. In its general habits 

 it is bold and fearless. It breeds early, using a hollow tree 

 for the purposes of nidification; but not making any nest, and 

 in April, May, or June, according to latitude, deposits 5 to 7 

 pure white, rather fine grained eggs, which in size average 

 about 1-31 by T05. 



A peculiarity in this owl is that the ear-orifices and also the 

 configuration of the skull are asymmetrical. 



ASIO, Briss., 1760. 



688. LONG-EARED OWL. 



ASIO OTUS. 



Asio otus (Linn.), Syst, Nat. i. p. 132 (1766) ; (Naum.) i. p. 451, Taf. 45, 

 fig. 1 ; Newton, i. p. 158 ; Dresser, v. p. 251, pi. 303 ; Sharpe, Cat. 

 B. Br. Mus. i. p. 227 ; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iii. p. 271 ; 

 Saunders, p. 293 ; Lilford, i. p. 91, pi. 44 ; Otus vulgaris, Fleming, 

 Brit. Anim. p. 56 (1828) j Gould, B. of E. pi. 39 ; id. B. of Gt. 

 Brit. i. pi. 31 ; Hewitson, i. p. 55, pi. xvii. fig. 3 , Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 

 0. p. 155. 



Hibou milgaire, French ; Moclw, Portug. ; Bu-ho, Span. ; Gufo 

 comune, Ital. ; Waldohreule, German ; Ranmil, Dutch ; Skov- 

 hornngle, Dan. ; Hornugle, Norw. ; Hornuggla, Skogsuf, Swed. ; 

 Sarvipollo, Finn. ; Uschastaja-Sova, Russ. ; Bdf, Arab. ; Tora- 

 fu-dzuku, Jap. 



ad. (Scotland). Crown furnished with long, erectile tufts, brownish 

 black, on the outer margins ochreous and on the inner greyish white ; 

 upper parts buff, marked, streaked, and vermiculated with brown, blackish 

 and greyish white ; tail warm ochreous, barred and slightly vermiculated 

 with blackish brown ; facial disk warm buff, the feathers on the inner 



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