so 
natural history. 
generally take possession of an old magpie’s or buzzard’s nest. 
I ey lay four or five eggs. The young are white at fir! 
t FSiXtar m fiftcei1 days - They aie 
1 he short-eared ozol is only fourteen inches lono-. [ t has 
longer than the rest on "each side 
of the head, which it can erect at pleasure. Its back is 
TheT’ and f ,he , bel1 / a P ale y el 'ow, streaked with brown, 
lie legs are feathered to the toes. It may be accounted a bird 
of passage, visiting us m October, and retiring in spring 
ihe sco^ is st.ll smaller than the last mentioned bird 
winch .t resembles in most respects. It is, however, only 
seven or eight inches long, that is, not so large as a thrush' 
thp^nfh C ° nSl T r‘ W ° featllers ’ whlch are just elevated above 
the others. In France it appears as a bird of passage • but 
it is dubious whether it ever visits England. ° ’ 
io these succeeds the tribe without horns. The howlet 
or which is the largest of this kind, with dusky plumes’ 
and black eyes ; the screech , or tawny owl, of a smaller size’ 
that is, about fourteen inches, with blue eyes, and plumage 
of an iron-grey ; the white owl, about as large as the former 
wuh yellow eyes, and whitish plumage ; the brown owl less’ 
than the former, with brown plumage, and a brown beak • 
e?e d s nn y ’ th ® “ with yellowish-coloured 
eyes, and an orange-coloured bill. 
Of those owls which may in France and England be termed 
The tlU 7 dl , fferCnt 8 P e eies have been enumerated 1 
The Siberian cared owl ,s a most beautiful little bird, about 
the size of a house-sparrrow, that is, scarcely six inches in 
, e P", t u 1S blown, the eared feathers one inch in 
height. The whole body is ash-coloured, and delicately 
powdered, and variegated with brown and white spots. 7 
cedimr^Th^?^^’ ‘ Sab T U , three times nslitrge as the pre- 
ceding. T lie feathers on the head and neck are white and 
woody ; but on each side of the head there is a laro- e patch of 
blackish brown, which surrounds the eyes. The upper parts 
of the body are reddish brown, with a bar of the same kind 
crossing the breast; the under’parts of the body a^e wthe 
size ai dplu,nLe fanlmalS ’ h ° wevor the y differ in their 
previno- bv 3? tf™ 1? r‘ e ' r general ch a™cteristics of 
pieynp, by night, their bodies are strong and muscular • 
heir fee t and claws made for tearing their prey; and their’ 
stomachs for digesting it It must be remarked however 
or a ,, h pfTV b ‘ rds that live "Pon mice, lizards,’ 
or such I ke food, is not very perfect; for though they 
swallow them whole, yet they are always seen some time 
