SHOUT-EARED OWI.. 
285 
This bird, the Strix Irachyotos , Linnaeus, Otus 
brachyotos, Cuvier, will stand as one of our 
migratory or partially migratory species. In Eng- 
land, to the s r uth of Durham, it is a winter visi- 
tant ; but tc the north of this it breeds, extending 
to the Hebrides, where a few specimens may be 
also seen during the winter months. In the 8vo. 
edition of Wilsons North American Ornithology, 
we detailed our observations on this species. Since 
that period, we have had no opportunity of seeing 
the birds in their breeding haunts, and rve there- 
fore now give the substance of what we then wrote. 
“ In England it has received the name of Wood- 
cock Owl, from appearing nearly about the same 
time with that bird. They perhaps then do not 
remain stationary, but are met with in their 
migration to and from the north, similar to the 
appearance, for a few days, of the ring-ouzels and 
dotterels. In spring, they are seen singly or in 
pairs, and in the fall, in small groups, the amount 
of their broods when again retiring. They do 
not appear to be otherwise gregarious, and it is 
only in this way that we can account for the flock 
of tw'enty-eight which Bewick records as seen 
together in a turnip field, and the instances men- 
tioned by Mr Selby, of five or six of these birds 
being frequently found roosting together. In 
the North of England and in Scotland, they will 
