The Eagle Owl. »s 



Fa,iiilv—S TRRUDAi. 



Eagi,e (Jul. 



Bubo *iiiaximus, FlkMING. 



WE pass from describing the sniallest Owl on the British list, the tiny 

 Scops, to the largest, the noble Eagle Owl, the name Eagle being con- 

 ferred upon it because of its pre-eminence in size and strength. It is a powerful 

 and courageous bird, inhabiting the northern and central Palaearctic region, and 

 found throughout Europe, in the forests and mountains, from Lapland to the 

 Mediterranean. In the British Islands it is stated to have been formerly a resident 

 in the Orkneys, but it is now only a very rare occasional visitor to the north of 

 Scotland, and in the English counties its occurrences have been verj'^ few, and as 

 this grand Owl is often kept in a semi-domesticated state, most of these may 

 have been due to escapes ; it is doubtful if it has ever been obtained in Ireland. 

 On account of the havoc wrought by it to game a price is set upon its head, 

 and it is greatly persecuted in all the large preserved forests of central Europe, 

 and is becoming scarce in consequence. The Eagle Owl is stricth' nocturnal, 

 hiding by day in great trees, or among the rocks, but if it flies abroad in the 

 daytime it is not dazed by the most brilliant sunshine ; it comes forth to hunt 

 early in the evening. Its cry is a deep hoot, chiefl}' heard at the nesting season ; 

 some have likened its note to the distant bark of a gruff old watch dog. It nests 

 early in the year, in February and March, generall}' in the forests on some loftj- 

 tree, selecting often some deserted nest of other birds, but almost invariabh' at a 

 great elevation from the ground. Or else the nest is a mere hole scratched out 

 on the ledge of a rock, or on the ground at the foot of a tree. WoUe}- gives a 

 very good description of one found by him in Lapland — "When we were fairh- 

 in the cliffs we came to a point where some large bird was in the habit of sitting 

 to tear its pre}^ and feathers and white feet of hares were h-ing about. A great 

 Owl flcAv before us, showing a beautiful expanse of back and -wings ; and as we 

 proceeded in the direction from which it came, another large Owl rose from the 

 face of the cliff, flew^ a hundred paces forward, turned its wide face towards us, 

 and came a short distance back. I stopped to examine it %vith m}' glass to be 



* The writer refuses to continue T. Forster's absurd and libellous name Bubo ignavus. 

 Vol. Ill O 



