Earep Owts. RAPACES. STRIX. 55 
truth of this supposition I am inclined to doubt, from the fact 
of their being seldom met with during two days together in 
the same place. 
They rarely appear in England previous to the beginning Rarely ap- 
of October, though I have killed two or three individuals pee 
when grouse shooting on the upland moors in August, at 
which season they were in the moult. 
The head of this Owl being smaller than the generality of 
its fellow species, has procured it, in some parts, the name of - 
Hawk Owl, or Mouse Hawk. Many ornithologists have 
been in doubt respecting it, and the synonymes are conse- 
quently in some confusion and obscurity. 
They appear to have been deceived by the dissimilar as- 
pect of the head between the living and dead bird, as it is 
only in the first state that the horns or ears are visible. 
Their principal food with us consists of field-mice ; but Food. 
from Mr Low’s account (as before quoted), it should seem 
that they do not always confine themselves to such diet. 
Mownracv also mentions one, in whose craw he found part of 
a lark, and a yellow hammer *. When first disturbed, they 
fly to a short distance, look intently at the object of their 
alarm, at the same time visibly erecting their horns. If a 
dog be in company, they hover above it, uttering at the same 
time a querulous and impatient cry. When wounded, they 
defend themselves with the same resolution, and in the same 
manner as the preceding species. 
This Owl is of wide locality, bemg met with in Siberia, and 
in many parts of North America; and specimens are also 
mentioned as having been brought from the Sandwich Is- 
lands. 
Prats 21. The bird here represented measured fifteen inches 
in. length, and three feet across the extended wings. 
* Mont. Ornith. Dict. Supplement, article Short-eared Owl. 
