THE GREAT HORNED OWL 



(Bubo ignavus) 



THE great horned, or eagle, owl, the largest European representative of the 

 nocturnal birds-of-prey, is the typical member of a group characterised by 

 the relatively small size of the apertures of the ears, which are not closed 

 by covers, and likewise by the more or less imperfect development of the disc-like 

 ring of feathers round the eye, which forms such a conspicuous feature in ordinary 

 owls. The so-called horns are, it need scarcely be mentioned, tufts of long, 

 somewhat hair-like feathers growing from the neighbourhood of the ears. These 

 ear-tufts are common to the so-called long-eared owls, which are, however, all birds 

 of smaller size, with larger ear-openings, protected by special covers, and complete 

 discs of feathers round the eyes. 



The general appearance of this magnificent bird when in an attitude of 

 repose, the colour and markings of the plumage of the head, breast, and under- 

 parts, and the great, staring, red-ringed eyes are admirably shown in the illustration. 

 When, however, the bird is enraged, the body is depressed and the plumage 

 ruffled out, while the wings are half-spread, thus increasing its size and producing 

 a formidable appearance probably sufficient to overawe a number of would-be 

 assailants other than man. In length this unmistakable bird measures as much as 

 27 inches, so that it is equal in point of size to a small eagle. 



The eagle-owl ranges over the greater portion of Europe, as well as northern 

 Africa, and much, if not the whole, of northern and central Asia ; and the species 

 breeds as far north as Lapland and as far south as Gibraltar and Greece. It is 

 true that the eagle-owls inhabiting the country to the east of the Ural Mountains 

 have been regarded as a distinct species, under the name of B. sibiricus, while the 

 name of B. turcomamis has been proposed for those from the deserts of south- 

 western Siberia, Turkestan, and Tibet ; but these and others from Asia north of 

 the Himalaya are so closely allied to the European bird that they are best regarded 

 in the light of local races of that species. 



On the other hand, the American eagle-owl (B. mrginianus) is a perfectly 

 distinct species, with a range extending over the whole of North America, although 

 this bird has likewise been split up into a number of nominal species. Eagle-owls 

 of various species are also known from tropical South America, the whole of 

 Africa, Arabia, India, China, and Japan, so that with the exception of the Malay 

 countries and Australasia, the group has a practically world-wide range. 



To the British Isles the great horned owl — the grand due of the French and 

 the uhu of the Germans — is, nowadays at any rate, merely an occasional straggler, 



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