THE HAWK-OWLS. 
87 
at once, but apparently at a considerable interval, so that nest- 
lings of all sizes, as well as freshly laid eggs, are found in the 
same nest, the warmth of the more advanced young birds 
doubtless contributing to the hatching of the more recently 
laid eggs. 
Eggs. — Six to eight in number, occasionally more ; creamy- 
white, rather rough in texture, and more elongated than those 
of the Eagle Owl, which they nearly equal in size. Axis, z'l- 
2 '3 inches; diam., i ‘65-1 ‘8. 
THE HAWK-OWLS. GENUS SURNIA. 
Surnia, Dumeril, Zool. Anal. p. 34 (1800). 
Type, 5 . ulula (L.). 
The members of the genus Surnia are two in number, one 
species being found in Europe and Northern Asia, and the 
other in North America. They are much smaller than the 
Snowy Owl, which they resemble in their habit of hunting by 
day, and like that species, the Hawk-Owls have no elongated 
ear-tufts on the head. The tail, too, is much longer than m 
the Snowy Owl, being nearly of the same length as the wing, 
and is wedge-shaped, the feathers being graduated. 
1. THE HAWK-OWL. SURNIA ULULA. 
Strix ulula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 133 (1766). 
Surnia ulula, Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 301, pi. 311 (1872) , 
Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. ii. p. 129 (1875); O- U- 
List Br. B. p. 88 (1883). 
Surnia funerea, Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. part xni. (1890). 
Adult Male. — General colour above sepia-brown, with bars of 
white ; scapulars externally pure white, forming a longitudinal 
patch ; crown white, barred with dark brown, the bars broader 
towards the nape, which is white with a few brown shaft-lines 
and margins on the feathers ; a large black patch on each side 
of the neck ; lesser and median wing-coverts like the back, 
with large oval spots of white ; quills ashy brown, with bars 
of lighter brown, the primaries tipped with white, the second- 
aries more broadly ; tail ashy-brown, with nine narrovy bars of 
dull white, purer white on the inner web ; an indistinct eye- 
