136 THE BIRDS OF DEVON. 



lection of the late Mr. F. AV. L. Eoss, -which he stated to have been taken 

 at Exmouth. It appears to have been kept in captivity for some time, as 

 the tail-feathers are soiled and worn ; but this may have been done sub- 

 sequently to its capture. The date of its occurrence was not recorded, but 

 it must have been previous to 1851, as we first saw the specimen in 

 Mr. lioss's possession in that year. 



A tarso-raetatarsal bone of this Owl was obtained from Kent's Cavern, 

 Torquay, and is preserved in the British Museum (Lydekker, Ibis, 1891, 

 p. 355). 



Hawk-Owl. Surnia funerea (Linn.). 



Capt. J. X. Still, of Slades, Knoyle, Wilts, wrote to inform us that he 

 had followed and watched for some time a Ilawk-Uwl as it was circling 

 round and round in the air, making a noise like the cry of a Hawk in the 

 middle of the day, near Musbury, in E. Devon. In his letter, dated 

 t^e])t. 27, 187G, he savs : " I have great pleasure in forwarding to you the 

 following account of the Hawk-Owl. It was seen by my father and self 

 near Musbury, either the very end of August or the beginning of Septem- 

 ber, 18U9, about three o'clock in the afternoon. We were tirst attracted 

 to it by its Hawk-like cries. It kept circling rouud and round about 

 forty yards high, and frequently came close to us. We watched it for 

 half an hour or so, when it gradually kept circling away towards the west. 

 The day was a fine hot summer one. I had no gun with me when we saw 

 it, and although I searched for it on the following days I never found it. 

 I daresay some gamekeeper killed it, little knowing what bird it was. 

 My father and I have frequently since talked about the bird, hence the 

 reason for my knowing the date." 



The first-recorded Lritish specimen of the Hawk-Owl was captured 

 alive on board a collier at no great distance from the Cornish coast in 

 March 1830, and was taken to Waterford, where it lived for a few weeks, 

 and then passed into the hands of Dr. Birkett of tliat town, who subse- 

 quently presented it to the Museum of Trinity College, Dublin. A second 

 occurrence of this Owl in the West of England is reported by Mr. E. T. 

 Higgins in the 'Zoologist' for 1851 (p. 3020) as having taken place on 

 Backwell Hill *, in Somerset, near the Yatton Station of the Bristol and 

 Exeter Itaihvay. This bird was shot while it was flying about in the 

 bright sunshine at two o'clock in the afternoon of August 25th, 1817. It 

 afterwards passed into the collection of Mr. Borrer, the author of the 

 • Birds of Sussex.' 



The Hawk-Owl, as its name implies, partly resembles a Hawk and partly 

 an Owl, In its seeking its prey by day, in its long tail, and in its cry, it 

 approximates to the Hawks, while its facial disks (considerably modified, 

 however), its nest in a hollow tree containing white eggs, and its feeding 



* This district in Somerset has been peculiarly rich in rare birds. At no great dis- 

 tance from the spot where the Hawk-Owl was procured, examples of Tenguialm's Owl 

 and of White's Thrush have been met with. 



