to the description of a nest of this species, found by that much-
regretted ornithologist in the very district where Linnaeus
saw the nests just mentioned; and the close agreement, even
in some minute particulars, of the accounts given by these
two observers affords remarkable proof of the accuracy of
each.
In the southern and western counties of England, the
Eagle-Owl has been obtained in Kent, Sussex and Devonshire.
One was caught alive so near London as Hampstead,
and it is said to have occurred in Suffolk, Norfolk, Oxfordshire,
Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Durham; besides near
Swansea in Wales. Some of these instances certainly, and
possibly most of them, are due to examples which have
escaped from captivity. In Scotland it was said of old time
by Sibbald to inhabit the Orkneys, while Messrs. Baikie and
Heddle mention a specimen obtained, in 1830, on Sandey,
one of the islands of that group. According to Pennant an
example was killed in Fifeshire in the last century, and
Mr. Kobert Gray mentions, 011 the authority of Mr. Angus,
the capture of one in Aberdeenshire, in February, 1866.
Other cases of its supposed occurrence have also been given,
but a mistake as to the species seems likely to have been
made. The only record of the Eagle-Owl’s appearance in
Ireland rests on an unsatisfactory statement, quoted by
Thompson, to the effect that once, after a great storm, four
such birds paid a two days’ visit to Donegal, hut were not
seen again.
This bird inhabits all the countries of continental Europe,
from Lapland to the shores of the Mediterranean, as well as
the whole of Siberia, to the furthest corner of Asia ; especially
frequenting tracts of forest and mountains. I t is by
no means rare, according to Mr. Swinhoe, in many parts of
China, going as far southward as Amoy and Canton. Mr.
Jerdon says that it occurs in the higher regions of the Himalayas,
whence a specimen was sent to the Calcutta Museum
by Captain Smyth of Almorali. Strickland obtained it in
Asia Minor. I t is not known to occur in Palestine, though
occasionally met with in winter in Lower Egypt. I t is found
in Algeria, but whether it breeds there has not been recorded.
I t does not seem to occur in Sardinia, though not
uncommon in Sicily.
It is well known as a species here, being constantly exhibited
in various menageries, where, except during the pairing
season, when its peculiar hoot may often he heard, it is
mostly quiet, uttering no sound hut an occasional sharp and
snapping noise made with the bill. I t has been known to
live to a great age, and has bred in confinement at Arundel
Castle, and elsewhere. Mr. Edward Fountaine, who has been
remarkably successful in his treatment of birds of this family,
lias for some years kept many Eagle-Owls at Easton near
Norwich, the majority having been reared in his aviaries,
and as some of them were hatched from eggs laid by birds
bred by him, he may be considered to have, in .some degree,
domesticated the species.
The foregoing figure was taken from a bird in the garden of
the Zoological Society, and the following description from specimens
formerly in its museum. The beak is nearly black, the
base hidden by the radiating feathers of the facial d isk; irides
bright orange ; the tufts on the head contain seven or eight
dark-coloured feathers, with light brown bars on the inner
webs; the head, neck and back, a mixture of reddish-
brown and dark brown, the darker colour occupying the
middle of each feather, forming streaks, the other parts of
the web mottled; primaries and tail above similar in colour,
but barred transversely ; the feathers of the facial disk light
brown speckled with greyish-black, those under the disk
white ; breast pale brown, with longitudinal patches of dark
brown; belly, under tail-coverts, thighs, legs and toes, pale
brown, with numerous narrow transverse bars of dark brown ;
tail beneath dusky brown, barred with pale brown ; claws
black. The whole length from twenty-four to twenty-eight
inches, the difference depending upon sex.
In the older nestlings described by Linnseus the hill was
black ; irides saffron-yellow ; pupil bluish-black; the general
plumage soft; the wings dark, with reddish-brown spots;
feathers of the breast brick-red, with a dark indented longi