BUBO MAXIMUS, sm. 
Eag-le Owl. 
Btiho maximiis (Sibb.), Flem. Hist. Bi'it. Anim., p. 57. 
Strix bnbo, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 24. 
Bubo, Bubo Italicus et B. Laponicus, Briss. Orn., tom. i. pp. 447, 482, 486. 
nudipes. Baud. Traite d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 209 
Atheniensis, Baud, ib., p. 209. 
albus, Baud, ib., p. 210. 
microcephalus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. ZooL, vol. xiii. pt. 11. p. 55. 
Europceus, Less. Traite d’Orn., p. 115; Atlas, pi. 17. fig. 1. 
Germanicus, Brehm, Vbg. BeutscliL, tom. i. p. 119. 
septentrionalis, Brehm, ib., p. 120, pi. 9. fig. 1. 
Asio bubo, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 217. 
Otus bubo, Schleg. Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur., p. 13. 
If I were to indulge in a poetic vein while writing the history of this noble species, which stands at the 
head of all the European Owls, I might speak of its selection as the emblem of all that is wise and learned, 
or I might take up another strain and write upon its midnight voice, or upon its presence being regarded 
as an omen of death and other evil forebodings ; hut I will let such fancies and fallacies stand for what they 
are worth and write a page on its history — not that I have any additional information to communicate 
respecting its natural habits and economy. 
The Great Horned or Eagle Owl, which is unquestionably the largest and finest species of the birds for 
which the generic term of Bubo is now employed, is a native of the northern regions of the Old World, and 
is represented in the New by the Bubo Firginiajius. The two species bear a very general resemblance to 
each other, but each possesses well-defined characters by which they may be distinguished. The regions 
of the Old World in which the present bird dwells are the forest- or mountain-districts of Central Europe, 
Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Siberia, as far as the Aihoor land. In England, Ireland, and Scotland it is 
extremely scarce, and its presence, when it does occur therein, must be regarded as purely accidental. In 
fact, should the traveller consider that if he made a journey to the European continent, whether it be to 
Nonvay or Switzerland, he would meet with this noble bird, and see its great fiery eyes blazing from the 
branch of a forest-tree, or its egrets standing’ erect in the sky-line when surmounting a rock, or hear its 
hollow hooting from a gully, he would probably be disappointed ; for nowhere is the bird abundant, and it 
is only in some favoured locality, far from the abode of man, that it takes up its quarters for the purpose of 
breeding. The areas over which the mated pairs range must be of considerable extent, and the amount of 
food necessary for their existence commensurately great. I should suppose that there is no one of my 
readers who has not seen this bird in a state of captivity ; for there are not many parts of England, from the 
renowned Castle of Arundel in the south to the successful rearing in cages of my friend Edward Fountaine, 
Esq., of Easton near Norwich, in the north, where living examples may not be seen, and nowhere to 
greater advantage than in the fine Menagerie of the Zoological Society in the Regent’s Park. 
The food of this powerful Owl consists of fawns, hares, grouse, and other birds, which are pounced upon 
on the ground and seized with its feet, the head being rarely advanced towards the prey until its struggles 
are over. 
By far the best account of the nest and eggs of the Eagle Owl is that furnished to Mr. Hewitson by the 
late Mr. John Wolley, and published in the third edition of his work on the ‘Eggs of British Birds ; ’ and I 
am sure I shall be held excused for copying his graj)hic description instead of attempting to describe what 
I have not seen myself. 
After expressing the great difficulty of “ hunting up the ornithological popidation of such a country ” as 
Norway, where the birds are few and the area over which they are scattered vast and almost inaccessible, 
he writes — “ First, I was determined to find a nest of Striw bubo ; many expeditions of some miles, and 
several days lost, have resulted in the finding of a single nest wath two young ones and an egg just hatching, 
and this after inquiries at every place I have been to. It was on the 20th of May, and after climbing to 
the mysterious cave of Skulberg, that our road lay under a steep mountain-side broken up into crags 
and ledges of the character which is usually so attractive to birds of j)rey. There was a little village at 
the foot; and an old man pointed out the direction from which the hootings were to be heard every 
evening. Whilst I was listening to the consultation and taking a survey with my glass, an Osprev flew 
along the edge of the cliff, at a great height above us, and, mellowed in the distance, there came a full 
