294 LONG-EARED OWL. 
nestling in the Azores; while in the Canaries this species breeds in 
the palm-trees of the warm valleys as well as in the mountain forests ; 
it is also found in North Africa from Morocco to Egypt. Eastward, 
it has been recorded from Arabia; it inhabits the wooded por- 
tions of Asia north of the Himalayas as far as China and the Sea of 
Japan, though it has not been found in Kamchatka ; and in winter 
it visits Northern India. In North America it is represented by a 
subspecies, A. zz/sonianus (Lesson), which has darker upper parts 
and more closely barred under parts. 
The Long-eared Owl usually deposits its eggs in an old squirrel’s 
drey, or some former nest of a Ring-Dove, Magpie, Crow, Rook, 
Heron, and, on the Continent, of a Buzzard, Kite &c.; a little lining 
of small thin sticks and rabbit’s fur being often added. It lays very 
early in the season, and even in Northumberland clutches of eggs have 
been taken by February 22nd. These, 4-6 in number, are white, 
with a rather smooth but not glossy surface: measurements 1°6 by 
1°3 in. Several pairs may be found in close proximity, and I once 
knew of eight broods in a fir-plantation which stretches along a 
commanding ridge in Surrey. On May roth 1897, Mr. Ogilvie Grant 
and Capt. Savile Reid found a nest on the ground on an island 
in Loch Syre, Sutherland (Irby). This Owl is nocturnal or crepus- 
cular in its habits, and during the daytime is seldom to be found 
in the open fields, except just after immigration. The pellets which 
I have examined show that it feeds principally upon field-mice, young 
rats, and birds up to the size of a Blackbird, though beetles and 
other insects are sometimes eaten. The old birds occasionally make 
a barking or ‘quacking’ noise, while on the wing as well as when 
perched ; but as a rule this species is rather silent, and certainly 
does not ‘hoot’ like the Tawny Owl. The nestlings utter a loud 
mewing ; they often leave the nest before they can fly, and climb up 
again, by the aid of their bills (R. J. Howard). 
The adult male has the upper parts buff, mottled and vermiculated 
with brown and grey, and streaked with dark brown, especially on 
the long erectile ear-tufts ; facial disk buff, with a greyish-black 
margin and outer rim, and dark markings round the eyes; under 
parts warm buff and grey, with broad blackish longitudinal streaks 
and minute transverse bars ; bill blackish ; operculum semicircular ; 
legs covered to the toes with fawn-coloured feathers. Length 14 in. ; 
wing 11°5 in. It has been stated that the female is more rufous in 
tint than the male. In the young the facial disk is yellower and the 
markings on the under parts are more defined. 
