48 
BRITISH BIRDS. 
THE SHORT-EARED OWL. 
(St rix Brachyotos, Phil. Tranf. vol, 62, p. 384.) 
Length fourteen inches; breadth three feet: 
The head is fmall, and Hawk-like ; bill dulky ; the 
eyes are of a bright yellow, which, when the pupil 
is contracted, fhine like gold ; the circle round each 
eye is of a dirty white, with dark ftreaks pointing 
outwards ; immediately round the , eye there is a 
circle of black; the two horns or ears, in thofe 
we have examined, confift of not more than three 
feathers, of a pale brown or tawny colour, with a 
