EAGLE OWL. 



159 



consider the seeming intemperate habits of the bird, sometimes fasting-, 

 through necessity, for several days, and at other times gorging itself 

 with animal food, till its craw swells out the plumage of that part, 

 forming a large protuberance on the breast.. This, however, is its 

 natural food ; and for these habits its whole organization is particularly 

 adapted. It has not like man invented rich wines, ardent spirits, and a 

 thousand artificial poisons in the form of soups, sauces, and sweetmeats. 

 Its food is simple, it indulges freely, uses great exercise, breathes the 

 purest air, is healthy, vigorous, and long-lived. The lords of the 

 creation themselves might derive some useful hints from these facts, 

 were they not already, in general, too wise or too proud to learn from 

 their inferiors, the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field." 



In the Edinburgh edition of Wilson's work, the first volume of 

 which I have just seen, Dr. Jamieson says, in a note to the Sea 

 Eagle, {Falco ossifragus,) " This is the young of the Falco leucoce- 

 phalus, or White Headed Eagle, not the young of the Falco albicilla, 

 or Cinereous Eagle, which is the Sea Eagle of Britain." He does not 

 inform us upon what grounds he has come to this decision, in opposition 

 to the best authorities on the subject. See Temminck, vol. i. p. 50 ; 

 Selby's Illustrations, pt. i. p. 9.* 



EAGLE OWL (Bubo maximus, Sibbald.) 



* Strix Bubo, Linn. 1. p. 131.— Gmel. Syst. p. 286. sp. I.— Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. p. 



51.— Raii, Syn. p. 24. 1 — Will. p. 63. t. 12 — Briss. 1 p. 477 Le Grand 



Due. Buff. Ois. 1. p. 322 lb. pi. Enl. 435 Veil. Ois. d'Afr. 1. p. 106. pi. 



40 — Bubo maximus, Gerin. 1. p. 81 — Flem. Br. Anim. p. 57 Sibbald, Scot. 



p. 15. — Hibou Grand Due, Temm. Man. d'Orn. 1. p. 100 Grosse Ohreule 



huhu, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 2. p. 882 — Meyer, Tassch. Deut. 1. p. 70 lb. 



Vog. Liv. und Esth. p. 33. sp. 4, — Strix Bubo Atheniensis, Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 



286. var. B Black-winged Horn-Owl, Albin, 3. t. 6.— Athenian Horn-Owl, 



Edw. t. 64 Lath. 1. p. 118 Great-eared Owl, Br. Zool. 1. No. 64. t. 29 



Arct. Zool. 2. No. 114 — Albin, 3. t. 6 Will. (Angl.) p. 99. t. 12 Lath. 



Syn. 1. p. 116. 1 — lb. Supp. p. 40 — Lewin's Br. Birds, 1. t. 23 Mont. Orn. 



Diet — lb. Supp.— Bewick's Br. Birds, Supp.— Wale. Syn Shaw's Zool. 7. p. 



211* 



Provincial. — Great Owl. Great Horned Owl. 



This species is almost equal to an eagle in size. Irides bright yellow. 

 The plumage of the whole bird is a mixture of black-ferruginous, 

 brown, and cinereous, elegantly varied with lines, spots, and specks ; 

 the wings are very long, the second and third quill-feathers being the 

 longest ; tail short, marked with dusky bars ; legs strong, covered 

 thickly with a light-coloured down quite to the claws, which are strong, 

 much hooked, and dusky. f 



This bird is rarely met with in England ; a few instances only are on 

 record. It has been shot in Yorkshire and in Sussex, as well as in 

 Scotland, but is more plentiful in Norway and other parts of Europe. 



