160 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
the portico of the Museum at night. Twice I have found its 
chalky excreta splashed on the steps, and. once I found a pellet 
containing the skull of a Sparrow. In the spring of 1885, I 
found that it frequented Aylestone Church. In conversation 
with my friend the late Mr. Widdowson, he told me of an extra- 
ordinary parasite he constantly found during the winter months 
in the legs of this bird, and I asked him to send me the next 
specimen, which he did on January 7th, 1884, writing, “‘ If you 
take the skin off the legs, you will find what I take to be the 
nidus of some insect, and I believe you would find the same in 
one-half the number killed at this season of the year, but at no 
other time, and in no other species.”’ On examination, I found, 
on the tibia just above the joint, under the skin, in the 
sub-cutaneous tissues, a collection of minute seed-like objects, 
which, under the 1-inch objective, resolved themselves into 
thousands of whitish yellow acari. Under a higher power, I 
made out their possession of eight semi-spinous jointed legs, 
around an oval, sub-hyaline body, but I could not (even under 
the ¢-inch, our highest power) make out anything else but one 
or two short transverse lines and a slit nearly in the centre of 
the body. From the drawing I made of one of them, I infer 
their relation to the itch insect. 
Family Astonipm. 
Asio otus, Linn. Long-eared Owl (Horned Owl). —- Resi- 
dent, but rarer than the Short-eared Owl, and breeding occa- 
sionally. It is included by Potter amongst the birds of 
Charnwood Forest. It makes no nest of its own, but takes 
possession of the deserted nest of a Magpie or Crow. Mr. 
Macaulay presented one to the Museum which had been caught 
ina rat trap at Saddington Reservoir, October 26th, 1882. I 
received one from Gopsall in 1880, and another—a female—with 
well-developed eggs, from Elkington, shot in the district, on 
March 24th, 1884. I also received a male from Widdowson, shot 
at Melton on April 30th, 1885. On May 18th, 1882, I went 
over to Ashlands to see four young ones, taken from the deserted 
nest of a Carrion Crow on the 13th. The birds were feeding well, 
and were very pretty, being covered with greyish white down, 
freckled with duskier markings, and with distinct ear-tufts about 
half-an-inch in length, also grey, and barred; their irides were 
