BRITISH BIRDS. Ill 



black ; feet clothed with short yellowish-brown feathers ; 

 iris yellowish-orange. Length 14*00. Female : larger. 



Resident and generally distributed ; fairly common in 

 woodlands. Eggs are laid in old nests of other birds, 

 commonly a Ringdove's or Crow's, or Squirrel's dreys ; 

 usually 4 or 5 in number ; white ; in shape oval with a 

 smooth dull shell ; size 1*65 by 1*30. 



151. A, braehyotus (Forster). SHORT-EARED OWL. 



Hab. Almost cosmopolitan; in Europe breeding up 

 to the North Cape, but locally distributed. 



Distinguished instantly from A. otus by its short ear- 

 tufts, these measuring only about 70 instead of 1*30 

 as in the latter species ; they are not normally kept 

 erected. The facial discs and upper parts in general 

 are darker than in A. otus, and under parts are buffish- 

 white, streaked longitudinally, but not barred, with dusky 

 brown. Length : male 14^00 ; female 1475. 



A regular winter visitor in vaiying numbers, but in 

 Great Britain found breeding locally on the moors and 

 fens from East Anglia northward and throughout Scot- 

 land. Eggs : 4 or 5 ; like those of A. otus, but of a 

 slightly narrower oval shape ; size i'6o by 1*25. 



GENUS LXXVII. SYRNIUM, Savigny (1810). 

 Head large, without ear-tufts ; wings rather short, 2nd, 

 3rd and 4th primaries graduated, latter longest ; tail 

 moderately long ; toes feathered to claws. 



152. Syrnium alueo (Linn.). TAWNY OWL. 

 Hab. Western Palaearctic region. 

 Male : above tawny-brown mottled with grey, and with 

 darker, almost black, markings ; wing-coverts marked on 



