273 



the bird near Constantinople, was of the same opinion. This specimen is rather smaller than average 

 examples of Syrnium aluco, and is nearly black ; but in a favourable light one can see traces of the 

 markings characteristic of that species, showing faintly, like the nearly obsolete spots on the skin of a 

 black leopard." 



The present species is generally distributed throughout Europe, ranging north to about 67° 

 N. lat., and south into North Africa. It does not, however, appear to occur far east of the Ural, 

 if at all beyond that range of mountains. 



In Great Britain the Tawny Owl is found in suitable localities in all the counties of 

 England, and probably of Wales also ; but it becomes scarcer in Scotland, though much more 

 numerous than it used formerly to be ; for about a quarter of century ago it was comparatively 

 scarce, whereas now, according to Mr. A. G. More (Ibis, 1865, p. 15), it nests regularly in the 

 counties of Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Nairn, Inverness, Ross, Sutherland, and even in Caithness. 

 It has been met with also in some of the Inner Hebrides, as Islay and Mull ; and Low states 

 that it is found in Orkney in summer. In Ireland it is extremely scarce ; for Thompson cites 

 only one instance of its occurrence there. 



It is not found in Greenland or Iceland ; but, according to Captain Feilden, it has been 

 twice obtained at Eide, in the Faeroes — once in January and again in March 1871. In Scan- 

 dinavia it is widely distributed. Mr. Collett says that it breeds numerously in the southern 

 and western districts of Norway up to the Trondhjems fiord, above which it becomes rarer, but 

 it has been observed in some years in Salten, 67° N. lat. In the vicinity of Christiania it is a 

 resident, and is the most numerous of the Owls. According to Sundevall it is the commonest 

 Owl in Sweden, and is abundant as far north as Gefle, Dalecarlia, and Wermland in about 

 60°-61° N. lat., but scarcely ranges above that latitude. I never observed it in Finland ; nor is 

 it included by Von Wright in his work on the birds of Finland ; but Mr. Leonida Sabanaeff says 

 that it is generally distributed and tolerably common in Central Russia, but he did not observe 

 it in the Vologda Government. In the Ural it is not so common as the Ural Owl, and becomes 

 rare on the eastern slope of that range. It does not appear to occur further north than the 

 upper portions of the Perm Government. 



In Poland, the Baltic provinces, and throughout the whole of North Germany it frequents 

 wooded localities ; and Mr. Collin says that it is found throughout Denmark wherever there 

 are groves and woods, being, however, rare in Vendsyssel and on the island of Bornholm. In 

 Western Germany I have often seen it when collecting ; and Mr. Carl Sachse informs me that it 

 is very numerous near Altenkirchen, where it destroys many broods of young birds, often killing 

 the parent birds also. In the wooded portions of Holland it is not uncommon ; but it is said to 

 be rare in Belgium, where it nests in the large conifer-woods of the Campine, and in the wooded 

 districts in the higher ground. It is generally distributed in the wooded districts of France, and 

 is said to be very abundant in Provence. According to Professor Barboza du Bocage it is tolerably 

 numerous in Portugal, and in Spain it is not uncommon in the higher wooded districts; but 

 neither Colonel Irby nor Mr. Saunders observed it in Andalucia. Lord Lilford informs me that 

 it is well known in the province of Santander, and he obtained an old female with nestlings near 

 Potes in that province, and heard it in Aragon, but never met with it elsewhere in Spain. In 

 Savoy and Italy it is tolerably common in wooded localities, but much more numerous in the 



