THE GREAT HORNED OWL 



and then only to the northern parts of the kingdom, most, if not all of the 

 specimens that have from time to time been taken in England being birds that 

 have escaped from captivity. There is, however, a report that these splendid owls 

 once inhabited the Orkneys. 



Eagle-owls thrive well and breed freely in captivity; years ago a number 

 were kept, for instance, at Arundel Castle, but these, although long regarded as 

 European birds, were eventually proved to belong to the North American species. 

 Captive specimens have served to demonstrate in some degree the great age to 

 which these owls will live; a female brought from Norway in 1827 having 

 survived for seventy-five years in an English aviary, and having produced during 

 the last thirty years of her captivity no less than ninety offspring. 



From its large size, powerful beak and claws, and fierce disposition, the 

 eagle-owl, which is mainly nocturnal in its habits, is a terrible foe to the smaller 

 animals, preying largely upon rats, mice, moles, birds, and frogs, while it also 

 attacks and devours larger game, such as roe-deer fawns, hares, rabbits, hazel-hens, 

 ducks, and geese. Its haunts are thick forests, especially those in which tints of 

 rufous grey and black prevail ; and in such situations the mottled, warm-coloured 

 tints of its plumage harmonise both with the bark of the tree-trunks and the 

 weathered surface of the rocks and cliffs. At even, with noiseless wings, the eagle- 

 owl issues from its perch to sweep over the plains in search of prey ; or, rising high 

 in the air, utters its loud screech, and awakes the slumbering birds, which flutter 

 from their roosts to meet their fate by the relentless talons and beak of the nocturnal 

 marauder. 



The huge nest is generally built in trees, on cliffs, or in old buildings, but 

 the two or three eggs may be laid in holes on the bare ground. The eggs are 

 brooded by the female, who is fed during incubation by her partner. 



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