S. aluca, Lin. &c. Stridula of Gmel. and Lath. and Sylvatzca of Shaw. Grey, Brown, (Food, or Tawny Owl, Common Brawn Ivy Owl, or Howlet, & reech Owl, &c. Ferruginous, or grey-brown, wing coverts spotted with white, eyes glaucous. The length of the female is fifteen inches, its extent of wing two feet eight inches, and its weight about nineteen ounces. It is a native of most of the countries of Europe, and is also found in Newfoundland, and in South America, preferably fre quenting large and dense forests, and concealing itself in the thickest recesses. Occasionally it settles on the ground, but, if disturbed, takes shelter in a neighbouring tree. Unless forced from its haunts, it is rarely seen on wing during the day ; and so imperfectly does it perceive objects in a bright day, that it is no uncommon thing for boys to hunt it down with sticks and stones. It breeds in the hollows of trees, and sometimes in barns and gra naries, in which it is welcomed by the farmer, on account of the numbers of the 'marine race which it destroys; but it is a far less acceptable visitor in pigeon-houses, in which it commits serious devastation. It scarcely prepares the form of a nest, but drops from two to four eggs, of a dull white, and of a rouadish shape, on the decayed wood, and some times in the abandoned nest of a rook, jay, or other large bird. In Devonshire, it not unfrequently nidificates in an ivy bush or on the stump of an old pollard, apparently from the want of better accommodation. The young are covered with a light-coloured down, and are, at first, very shy, but soon become tame, if fed from the hand. If put out of doors within hearing of the parent birds, they retain their native shy ness ; for the latter visit them at night, and supply them with ample provision. This is the most common of our British owls, and the only one of them which hoots, inflating its throat, at the sante time, to the size of a hen's egg, besides which it makes a disagreeable screaming noise, and has, in most coun tries, been regarded as a bird of evil omen. 1 t is very rapacious, making great havock among young rabbits, hares, and partridges, and skinning mice with great dex terity before it eats them. It seizes its game with great fierceness, and beginning at the head, tears it violently in pieces, but usually leaves the hinder parts untouched. It is not difficult to catch it in traps, or it may be easily shot, in the evening, by any person who can allure it by imitating tolerably well the squeaking of a mouse. It is bold and furious in defence of its young.
S. bubo, Lin &c.; Great Owl, Great Eared, or Great Horned Owl, Eagle Owl, Stork Owl, &c. Katogle of the Orcadians. Rufous, variegated with black, brown, and cinereous spots and freckles. Length, from the point of the beak to the extremity of the tail, four feet eleven in ches. The great quantity of feathers with which the body is invested, makes it appear much larger that it really is, and has caused it to be compared to the eagle in bulk. The whole plumage is a mixture of brown, fulvous, and sub-rufous, disposed in spots and bands; the brown of the upper parts and wings is darker than that of the belly and abdomen, and the breast is whitish. But this general description admits of considerable diver sity, and there are several foreign varieties which have been exhibited by some as distinct species.
As this bird can bear both heat and cold, it is found in the north and south of both continents ; for it has been observed in the arctic regions, in Kamtschatka, Siberia, &c. in the neighbourhood of Astrachan, on the borders of the Elephant river, in Africa, in South Ame rica, and as far north as Hudson's Bay. It is very
common in the wooded tracts of Russia, Hungary, Germany, and Switzerland, but less so in France. Though rare in Britain, it has been shot in Yorkshire, Sus sex, and Scotland ; and in the Orkneys its presence is at tested by its destruction of red grouse and rabbits, which abound in some of the islands. It seldom perches on trees; but haunts mountainous, rocky, and desolate situa tions. as deserted towers, precipices, and lonely crags. Although more capable of supporting the light of day than many of its congeners, its most successful excursions are performed in the silence of the night, when it seizes on leverets, young rabbits, moles, mice of all descriptions, serpents, lizards, toads, frogs, and even bats. After break ing, with its beak, the head and bones of a monse, it swal lows it entire, and, in the course of a few hours, rejects by the month the hair, bones, and skin, m the form of balls. At all times an active hunter, it is particularly murderous during the breeding season, that it may supply the vora cious cravings of its progeny. Its presence in the dark is announced by the doleful cry of hehoo, hooka°, boohoo, heohoo ; but when it cries ihrot4,n pain or fear, the sound is exceedingly strong and grating. Its nest is nearly three feet in diameter, con posed of small branches of dry wood, interwoven with pliant roots, and strewed with leaves. It seldom lays more than two eggs, but sometimes Once, and very rarely Four, which are round, large as those of a hen, and mottled, like the bird which they inclose. The pa reins arc vigilant in providing subsistence For the young, which they procure in silence, and with more agility and courage than we might be apt to suppose ; for they often fight with the buzzard,. and compel it to surrender its spoil. Although their wings are shorter than those of most soar ing birds, they can rise to a great height, especially about twilight ; but at other times they generally fly low, and to short distances. They have been employed in falconry, to allure the notice of the kite. For this pur pose, it is customary to append a fox's tail to the owl, to enhance the singularity of its appearance. Thus equipped, it skims along the surface e' "le gre...r—I. and alights on the plain, without venturing to perch a tree. The kite perceives it from a distance, and advancing to examine it, generally hovers about unguardedly, till it is surprised by the sportsman, or caught by some of the birds that are flown at it. The breeders of pheasants likewise frequent ly keep a great eared owl, which they put into a cage among rushes, in an open place, to attract the crows and ravens, that they may he more speedily dispatched with a' cross-bow, which does not, like the report of a fowling piece, scare the young pheasants. In a state of captivity, this species will readily subsist on raw flesh and bullock's liver ; nor does it reject small and middle sized fish. It can long dispense with drink, hut sometimes indulges in it as if by stealth. Its gastric juice, according to Spal lanzani, is quite incapable of digesting vegetable sub stances, however triturated or masticated. A vat .ety of the present species was venerated by the Athenians, as the bird of Minerva, and the emblem of wisdom ; but, in most other communities, the solemn aspect and lugubri ous clamour of the bird have contributed to associate it with ideas of gloom and repulsion.