The Lonc-Eared Owl. 63 



Family—S TRIGWAi. 



Long-Earkd Oyvi.. 



Asia ofvs, Linn. . 



THERE are two species of the genus Asia, Tufted Owls, common in the 

 British Isles, easily distinguishable from each other, first by the length 

 of their tufts, and in the second place, b}^ their haunts ; the Long-eared Owl, 

 the first of the two to be considered, being a dweller in woods, while the 

 Short-eared Owl avoids them, and is found on open moors and fens. The 

 plumage, also, presents mau}^ marks of distinction. The Long-eared Owl is 

 generally dispersed over the British Isles, but is chieflj' known as a winter 

 visitor to the extreme western counties of England. It is ver}' common in 

 the large fir-woods in Scotland, and in general is a lover of evergreen planta- 

 tions, where it roosts throughout the daj^ sitting on a branch close up to the 

 bole of the tree, where it is hard to distinguish it on account of the close 

 correspondence between the general colour of the bark aud that of its plumage. 

 If a stranger approaches its roostiug place, or it becomes suspicious of any 

 danger, it elevates its tufts, and becomes watchful and observant, ready at an 

 instant to flit off on silent wing to another perch. In the autumn large 

 numbers of these very pretty Owls cross over to us from the Continent, and 

 the woods in the eastern counties are sometimes full of them at that season. 

 The Long-eared Owl does not leave its roost until the dusk, when it flies 

 abroad in search of rats, mice, voles, or small birds, seizing the latter oflf their 

 perches ; it also feeds on large moths and beetles. Lord Lilford, who pos- 

 sessed a greater acquaintance with Owls and their wa3's than an}- other English 

 ornithologist, owing to his fondness for them and the number of species he 

 had from time to time alive in his aviaries at Lilford, remarks " from m}- own 

 observation I am inclined to think that the Long- eared Owl prefers small birds 

 to quadrupeds as food, though it no doubt destroys man}^ field-mice and 

 voles," adding "all the Owls of my acquaintance are verj- fond of a diet of 

 fishes." The Long-eared Owl breeds earh^ in the 3-ear, often in Februar\- or 

 the begfinnins: of March ; it never nests in a hollow-tree, but selects the 

 deserted nest of a Crow, Magpie, or Wood-Pigeon, repairing it, and lining it 



