58 
BIRDS. ACCIPITRES. 
Otus. 
dusky bars. Tail with the two middle feathers dusky brown, others of an 
ash colour. The female has the head ferruginous, the nape with a patch of 
white, the remainder of the upper parts of the body, including the quills, 
dark chocolate brown, with ferruginous margins. Lower part of the rump 
and tail covers white. Beneath, the plumage is uniformly ferruginous. 
Breeds among furze. Eggs 4, wHte. Young like the female. Montagu 
supposes that Pennant referred to this species in his variety of the Ring-Tail, 
with the colour of the belly entirely plain, (Brit. Zool. i. 195.) Feeds on 
larks. Has probably been confounded with the Circus cyaneus, from which, 
however, it differs obviously in the superior length of the wings. 
It is probable, that the species of this group are more numerous than they 
are here represented to be. But the descriptions which exist in several Bri- 
tish works being occupied almost exclusively with colour, render the deter- 
mination of the species in some cases impracticable. The migration of birds 
of this kind is still involved in obscurity ; hence, with reference to the rarer 
species, the season in which they have been observed should be carefully 
noted, as furnishing an essential element in the determination of their physi- 
cal distribution. 
II. NOCTURNAL RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 
Gen. XIV. OTUS. Horn-Owl. — Tarsi and Toes closely 
feathered. The second quil-feather longest. 
27. O. vulgaris. Long Horn-Owl. — Horns consisting of from 
six to ten feathers. 
Otus sive Noctua aurita. Will. Orn. 64. Sibb. Scot. 15 — Long-eared 
Owl, Penn. Brit. Zoo\. i. 203. — Strix Otus, Temm. Orn. i. 102.— 
JF, DyUuan gorniog. — Frequents extensive woods. 
Length 144, breadth 40 inches ; weight 10 ounces. BiU and claws black, 
irides reddish. Plumage, above yellowish-brown, with dusky streaks, and 
freckled with grey and white ; beneath, dull yellow, with oblong brown spots. 
Horns about an inch long, of black feathers, with the margins brown and 
white. Willoughby and Montagu state the number of feathers at 6, Tem- 
minck at 10. Yl\e female has a white throat, the whole plumage tinged with 
greyish-white. Breeds in evergreen trees or old nests of crows. Eggs 4 or 
5, of a white colour. The young are of a whitish-red, with transverse black 
lines. Tail and wings grey, with brown points. Feeds on mice and small 
birds, at night. Does not migrate. 
28. O. hrachyotus. Short Horn-Owl. — Homo of three fea- 
thers. 
Short-eared Owl, Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 204. — Strix hrachyotus, Temm, 
Orn. i. 39. — E., Mouse-hawk, Woodcock-owl, Hawk-owl ; IF, Dylluan 
glustiog. — Breeds in Orkney. — A winter visitant in other districts. 
Length 14, breadth 37 inches ; weight 144 ounces. Bill and claws black ; 
irides yellow. The plumage, above, is dusky, with pale ferruginous edges : 
beneath, yellow on the upper part, white on the belly, with long dusky stripes. 
Quills 25. The two first pointed, the rest rounded. Inner web of the first 
and second, and outer web of the second, abbreviated near the tip. Tail, with 
brown and yellow bars. Female higher coloured. M. Cuvier (Regne Ani- 
jnal, i. 328.), states, that the females are destitute of horns. Bewick (British 
Birds, 1. 49.), on the contrary, says, “ Of several of these birds, both male 
and female, which we have been favoured with by our friends, we have ob- 
served that both had the upright tufts or ears.” Breeds in heaths. Mr Low, 
who observed the nest in Hoy (Faun. Ore. 42 .), found twp young ones. 
