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Krkavec ; near Tremosnic, the sandstone rocks near Zar, not far from Weisswasser ; the Aders- 

 bacher rocks; and the Bohemian Alps. The stomach of a specimen killed near Bensen in 1868 

 was quite full of cockchafers. An official list states that 202 specimens were killed in Bohemia 

 in 1857, which appears almost doubtful, though the total number of Owls of all sorts killed 

 there is in the same list stated to be 8670. The Bitter von Tschusi-Schmidhofen informs me 

 that several pair breed annually in the rocky portions of the Danube valley in Austria ; and I met 

 with it in several parts of the Southern Danube. Messrs. Elwes and Buckley record it as " a 

 common species all over Turkey, especially in the woods of Macedonia and on the treeless downs 

 of the Dobrudscha, which it seems to find as well suited to its habits as more sheltered localities. 

 In this part of the country it chooses a bank of earth on the side of a ravine for its eyry, and 

 scratches out a hole for the eggs in the bare ground, sometimes within sight of every passer-by. 

 We found a nest of four hard-set eggs on April 8th, and others containing young birds a fortnight 

 later." Mr. Farman also, to whom I am indebted for a specimen from Bulgaria, records it as 

 "more or less plentiful throughout the country, but particularly so in the Pravidy valley." In 

 Asia Minor it was obtained by Strickland ; but I do not find any note of its ever having occurred 

 in Palestine. In Northern Africa it is rare. Von Heuglin records one as having been shot near 

 Abasieh, not far from Cairo, in Egypt, in the winter of 1850-51 ; so that it may be looked on as 

 a rare winter straggler to North-east Africa. Iu North-western Africa it has been met with in 

 Algeria, where Mr. Taczanowski saw a fresh-stuffed specimen at Biskra, which agreed precisely 

 with the European form. Mr. A von Homeyer states that he saw a very dark specimen in the 

 Museum at Algiers, obtained in that province ; and Loche records it as common in Algeria, 

 especially in the mountains and forests, where it breeds. 



To the eastward the Eagle Owl is found throughout Siberia to China, and has been met 

 with in the Himalayas. A variety, which has been described as a separate species under the 

 name of Bubo sibiricus, is found in the Ural and in Siberia ; but, having examined specimens in 

 the Berlin and other Museums, I have come to the conclusion that it is a mere variety and 

 cannot be looked on as a distinct species. This form is more or less paler in colour than the 

 ordinary run of European specimens, but does not appear to differ otherwise. This race is said 

 to inhabit Siberia ; but Von Middendorff obtained specimens at Udskoj-Ostrog in August which 

 agreed precisely with examples from Western Europe. Dr. von Schrenck records it as found 

 throughout the Amoor country, and confirms what Von Middendorff writes respecting the identity 

 of the European and Siberian birds. Dr. Radde obtained three specimens from the highlands of 

 Dauria and the Central Onon, two of which, he writes, form a distinct link between B. sibiricus 

 and the common European species, thus showing them to be identical. He further records it as 

 common throughout Southern Siberia. Mr. Swinhoe met with it at Amoy, where, he says, it is 

 occasionally seen in the winter, and nests somewhere in the neighbourhood, as the young are sold 

 in the streets of the town. He also records it from Takoo and Peking ; and in Talien Bay, North 

 China, he " twice saw this fine Owl. Once we were on an expedition, when the whole party 

 stopped to see one of this giant species sitting on a rock some way up a hill, and trying to ward 

 off the attacks of a pair of Bed-legged Falcons, who were hovering over and darting at him on 

 each side. At last he flew to the other side of the hill to try and take refuge from his small 

 assailants ; but they followed after and continued their persecution until he hid himself under a 



