THE TUFTED OWLS. 
83 
been twice captured in England, once in Yorkshire and once 
in Norfolk; but neither Professor Newton nor Mr. Howard 
Saunders attach any credence to the statements, and the 
occurrences are probably on a par with those accompanying 
the alleged record of Scops brasiliensis and others, with which 
I am familiar. 
Range in Great Britain. — Only a very occasional visitor, which 
has occurred in all three kingdoms. It has been obtained in 
several English counties, and at least three of the captures in 
Norfolk are deemed authentic; and it has been recorded from 
Essex, Yorkshire, Middlesex, P.uckingh.amshire, Berkshire, 
Wiltsliire, Cornwall, Pemlrrokcshire, Lancashire, and Cumber- 
land. One record from Sutherlandshire is also admitted, as 
well as three from Ireland. 
Range outside the British Islands. — Generally distributed over 
Central and Southern Europe, but not extending into the 
northern provinces or into Scandinavia. In winter it migrates 
into North-eastern Africa and Senegambia ; but in Africa 
generally a dark form, A. cafensis, is found, and to the east- 
ward the Tufted Owls are represented by several allied races, 
the exact ranges of which have not been yet satisfactorily de- 
termined. 
Hahits. — The Small Tufted Owl is almost entirely a nocturnal 
bird, feeding chiefly on insects, but also devouring occasionally 
mice and shrews, and, according to Naumann, small birds and 
frogs. Its presence is generally detected by its note, for the 
bird is seldom to be seen, though, according to some observers, 
it flies about in the daylight; as a rule, however, this little 
Owl only emerges from its retreat in the evening, when it 
sallies forth in quest of its food. The note is described by 
Mr. Seebohm as monotonous as a passing bell, and almost as 
melancholy. “To my mind,” he says, “this note is exactly 
represented by the syllable ahp, repeated in an unvarying and 
desponding strain every ten or twenty seconds. This bird is 
generally, if sparingly, distributed all over Greece, from the 
seashore almost, if not quite, up to the pine-regions on the 
mountains. I have often listened to the note as I lay in my 
camp-bed in a peasant’s cottage at Agoriane, half-way up the 
Parnassus, where it was almost too cold to sleep with comfort ; 
G 2 
