50 
STRIGID7E. 
RA P TO RES, 
STRIGID/E. 
EAGLE OWL. 
Bubo maximus. 
PLATE XVII. FIG. IV. 
There is a strong and perfect similarity amongst the 
eggs of the different species of owls, which we could 
scarcely expect to find in the eggs of birds which differ 
from each other so much in their mode of breeding. The 
eggs of those species which are deposited in the hollows 
of old trees and deserted ruins, and those which are 
found on the bare sod, and exposed to the broad light of 
day and the pelting storm, are alike without colour. The 
Eagle Owl breeds in the north of Europe, making its 
nest upon the bleak and unsheltered summit of some 
lofty mountain. In such situations Linnaeus found their 
nests and young ones. In his journal for the 17th of 
May he says, “ At a quarter of a mile from the post- 
house (at Dingersjo) stands the highest mountain in Me- 
delpad, called Norby Knylen, and being desirous of 
examining it more minutely I travelled to Norby. After 
much difficulty and fatigue we reached the summit of 
the mountain to the westward. We endeavoured to de¬ 
scend at the south side, which was the steepest, and 
where rocks were piled on rocks. We were often obliged 
to sit down, and in that position to slide for a consider¬ 
able way. About the middle of this side of the moun¬ 
tain an Eagle Owl started up suddenly before us. Imme¬ 
diately afterwards we perceived a little plot of grass 
fronting the south, and guarded, as it were, by rocky 
walls on the east and west, so that no wind but the south 
could reach it. Here were three young birds and an egg. 
