i5° 
O WLS. 
brown wood-owl, which is uniform chocolate-brown above, becoming darker on 
the head, attains a length of 28 inches; it is replaced in the Himalaya by the 
rather smaller Nipal brown wood-owl (S. neivarense). 
Although several groups of owls are furnished with the tufts of 
feathers, commonly denominated ears, it will be convenient to restrict 
the title of eared owls to the members of the genus Asio, which includes the common 
short-eared owl nat size). 
long and short-eared owls of Britain. While agreeing with those of the two 
preceding genera in the structure of their ears and the form of the facial disc, the 
owls of this genus are readily distinguished by the presence of longer or shorter 
ear-tufts, and also by the cere being of much greater length. In all of them the 
lower mandible is notched, the tube of the ear very large, the wings long, usually 
with the second quill the longest, and the legs and toes are generally more or less 
feathered to the claws. They are all purely nocturnal birds, seldom or never 
hunting by day, and not leaving their roosts till evening. They may frequent 
either woods or open country, and nest either in trees or on the ground. Their 
flight is very silent, and their cry a loud hoot. The species are few. 
