SHORT-EARED OWL. 63 



tips of the wings ; the bill is much larger, and of a more 

 golden yellow ; iris of the eye, the same as that of the male. 



The different character of the feathers of this, and, I believe, 

 of most owls, is really surprising. Those that surround the 

 bill differ little from bristles ; those that surround the region 

 of the eyes are exceedingly open, and unwebbed ; these are 

 bounded by another set, generally proceeding from the ex- 

 ternal edge of the ear, of a most peculiar small, narrow, 

 velvety kind, whose fibres are so exquisitely fine, as to be 

 invisible to the naked eye ; above, the plumage has one 

 general character at the surface, calculated to repel rain and 

 moisture ; but, towards the roots, it is of the most soft, loose, 

 and downy substance in nature — so much so, that it may be 

 touched without being felt ; the webs of the wing-quills are 

 also of a delicate softness, covered with an almost impercep- 

 tible hair, and edged with a loose silky down, so that the 

 owner passes through the air without interrupting the most 

 profound silence. Who cannot perceive the hand of God in 

 all these things ! 



SHOBT-EABED OWL. {Strix Brachyotos.) 



PLATE XXXIII. —Fig. 3. 



Turton, Syst. p. 167.— Arct. Zool. p. 229, No. 116.— Lath. i. 124.— La chouette, 

 ou la grand cheveche, Buff. i. PL enl. 438. — Peale's Museum, No. 440. 



OTUS BRACHYOTOS— Cuviek.* 



Short-eared Owl, Bew. Br. Birds, i. p. 48, 50. — Selby, Illust. Br. Orn. i. p. 54, 

 pi. 21. — Hibou brachyote, Temni. Man. i. p. 99. — La Chouette, ou le moyen 

 due, a Hujipes courtes, Cuv. Begn. Anim. i. p. 328. — Otus brachyotus, Flem. 

 Br. Anim. p. 56. — Strix brachyotos, Bonap. Synop. p. 37. — Strix braehyota, 

 North. Zool. p. 75. 



This is another species common to both continents, being 

 found in Britain as far north as the Orkney Isles, where it 



* This owl, as Wilson observes, is also common to both continents, 

 but the British history of it is comparatively unknown. The following 

 observations may perhaps advance some parts of it : — 



In England it bears the name of woodcock owl, from its appearance 



