THE GREAT EAGLE-OWL. 157 



novv subdivided, that of which the present species forms 

 the type, the Bubo of M. Cuvier, is one of the most 

 strikingly characterized. Its bill is strongly inclined 

 from the very base ; its nostrils are large, oblique, and 

 concealed ; its auditory openings oval, of moderate size, 

 extending about half across the cranium, and covered 

 by the outer discs, which are of small comparative 

 extent ; its head is surmounted on either side by a tuft 

 of long feathers, in the position and somewhat in the 

 shape of the horns of Ruminating Quadrupeds ; and its 

 legs and toes are feathered down to the very claws. 

 Only three, or at the utmost four, species of this group 

 are known to exist, and that which is figured at the 

 head of the present article is the largest and most 

 remarkable. It is nearly two feet in length from the 

 beak to the tail, and measures no less than five in the 

 expanse of its wings. The head and upper parts are 

 variegated with a mixture of blackish brown and reddish 

 fawn-colour, the long plumes on the head being nearly 

 black, the stitf feathers of the base of the beak whitish 

 with black tips, and those of the face varied with black, 

 reddish, and giay. The throat is nearly white, and the 

 ground-colour of the breast and abdomen fawn-colour, 

 with numerous broad black longitudinal blotches, and 

 slight narrow transverse brownish bars. This trans- 

 verse marking, but with the brown bands still narrower, 

 extends to the inferior tail-coverts and the feathers of 

 the legs. The beak and claws are black, and the iris 

 of a bright orange. 



The Great Eagle-Owl is a native of great part of 

 Europe, and is said to extend eastwards as far as 

 Kamtschatka, and to be found even at the Cape of 

 Good Hope. It appears to be most abundant in Russia, 

 Germany, and Switzerland, but is rarely seen in France 

 or England, and never, according to M. Temminck, in 



