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THE GREAT-EARED OWL, OR EAGLE OWL. 
Buko maximus Sibbald. 
ELATE XXXII. 
Bubo maximus nigri et fusoi colons, Sikkald Sc. Illust. ii. p. 
IS Strix bubo, Limueus . — Le grand due, Buffon. — Great- 
eared or Horned Owl, Eagle Owl of British ornithologists. 
— Provincial!)*, Orkney, Katogle or Stock Owl. 
The description of the habits of the Eagle Owl, 
by one who has observed it in a wild state, is 
yet a desideratum in a history of British birds. 
Northern Europe seems to be the stronghold of this 
fine species ; Norway, Russia, and Germany, are 
given by ornithologists as the countries where 
it most abounds, but its rank, as a British species, 
rests only on a few instances of its capture, and 
on one or two records of its appearance, which 
are by no means circumstantially detailed. “ In 
Orcadilus" is all that Sibbald tells us, and the 
Orkneys have been handed down as a locality, 
without the instances of its capture being regu- 
larly and authentically recorded. Dr Neill, in 
addition to the account given by Dr Barry, says, 
“ it may be added that it often attacks rabbits and 
red grouse, which are abundant in several of the 
