CHAPTER XCI. 



THE Short-eared Owl. 



Strix hrachyotus ; Otus hrachyotus. 



Description and Character, — The Short-eared Owl, or Hawk 

 Owl, as it is variously named, is smaller in the head than 

 any of its congeners, and more Hawk-like in its habits. It 

 is able to fly about during the brightest and most effulgent 

 light without any apparent difficulty, and hawks for its prey 

 quite as well by day as by night, which none of the other 

 varieties of Owls appear capable of doing. 



The length of a fully-grown bird, from tip of beak to 

 end of tail, is from 14in. to 16in. ; the breadth across the 

 wings is 3ft. 2in., and the weight, from 14oz. to 16oz. The 

 females are the larger birds. The bill is dullish black, the irides 

 vivid yellow. The ears, or horns, as they are usually termed, 

 are very short, and consist of from two to three feathers, which 

 the bird is able to erect or depress at its pleasure ; they 

 are yellowish brown in colour, with a dusky streak in the 

 centre. The upper plumage is dingy brown, the feathers 

 being edged with fawn colour. The wings are very long, 

 and extend beyond the tail ; in colour they are dark, in- 

 definite brown, alternated with bars of pale brown. The 

 tail is the same colour as the wings, but the four middle 

 feathers have each a brown spot, encircled with fawn, on 

 each side of the shaft, and white tips. The face is 

 enshrined in a circle of greyish white, there being an inner 

 circle of black immediately surrounding the eyes ; and from 

 this rim diverges narrow lines of black, like the rays of the 



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