255 



scarcely be looked on as a distinct species. It differs in having the upper parts darker and more 

 clouded, and the underparts marked with but few longitudinal and many transverse stripes. 



The Long-eared Owl is almost strictly nocturnal, or is only in exceptional cases to be seen 

 about during the daytime. It frequents wooded districts, generally evergreen woods, and is 

 often found in fir-thickets. During the daytime it hides in some dense-foliaged tree, only 

 venturing out at the approach of evening, when it prepares to hunt after the small birds and 

 mammals which form its subsistence. It does not appear to frequent ruins, like some of our 

 Owls, though it is said by some observers to be found in such places when they are situated in 

 the woods ; still I cannot find any direct evidence that such is the case. 



Its call-note, which is to be heard in the evening and late into tbe night, is a deep hoot. 



The flight, like that of all the Owls, is soft and very noiseless ; and the bird glides almost 

 like a spirit, often startling the observer when it passes silently near him by its sudden 

 appearance. 



Its food consists chiefly of small mice, but also of large insects and small birds, the latter of 

 which it probably surprises when roosting. 



With us in England this Owl is chiefly sedentary ; and the same pair, if undisturbed, appear 

 to keep to the same wood. On the Continent, however, it is partially, if not quite, migratory ; 

 and Naumann remarks as follows : — " Our Long-eared Owl is by many considered to be a resident ; 

 but, to judge from my own observations, it is, at least in this part of the country, a partial 

 migrant, or even, to some extent, a regular migrant. In the summer they are spread through- 

 out the woods, and are also generally found thus in the winter ; but in autumn, from September 

 until the time when the trees are leafless, and in spring, from the latter part of February until 

 April, they are much more numerous. They may then be observed in parties of ten to sixteen 

 or more in number. At this season I have also observed one on the open fields, where otherwise 

 they seldom venture. In young conifer-groves, in places where the growth is getting to a fair 

 size, numbers may often be seen together." 



This Owl nests always in the woods, never, I believe, in clefts of rocks or old ruins, and 

 takes possession of some deserted squirrel-dray or Crow's nest, which, with but slight repairs, it 

 prepares for its progeny. I have taken the nest several times in Southern Germany, and always 

 found it in some deserted nest in a spruce-tree. When it takes possession of an old nest it 

 repairs it carefully and lines it neatly with feathers and down. 



The eggs, four in number, are generally deposited about March, and are hatched in about 

 twenty days. They are pure white in colour, and the surface of the shell is smooth but not 

 glossy. In size those in my collection average about lf^ by 1-J§ inch, and are elliptical in shape. 

 Mr. Benzon, of Copenhagen, sends me the following note : — " Here in Denmark this Owl is 

 found here and there, both in Jutland and on the islands, including Bornholm, where it gene- 

 rally breeds in old Crows' nests, seldom in those of the Buzzard, and lays usually four eggs ; I 

 have sittings of this number taken on the 25th and 27th of April, the former being strongly 

 incubated. I have one sitting of seven eggs, taken in Jutland on the 1st of April. On the 

 28th of April, 1859, Mr. Fischer found, in a wood in Northern Jutland, two nests containing 

 young birds, one containing seven of good size. Both pairs had made use of old Buzzards' nests 

 in beech trees." 



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