that the species which is known as a regular summer migrant
in most parts of Southern Europe, arriving and departing
with the Swallow, is in this country hut a casual visitor; and
that we have it at all is probably due to the fact that the
examples observed have been stragglers which have lost
their way. I t is almost strictly nocturnal in its habits,
passing the day, according to MM. Jaubert and Barthelemy-
Lapommeraye, hidden in thick foliage, or squatting lengthways
on a bare branch, and feeds upon mice, shrews, beetles,
grasshoppers and large moths. I t forms a simple nest in
holes of trees, and possibly of walls, or in the fissures of
rocks, laying from two to four or five eggs, which are white,
and measure from 1-22 to 1-17 by from 1-07 to I'O l in.
The example of this little Owl, which was figured by
Selby, was taken near London; and I am indebted to Mr.
Joseph Clarke, of Saffron-Walden, for the knowledge of the
occurrence of two specimens on the estate of Lord Bray-
brooke, at Audley End in Essex—all three having been met
with prior to November, 1837. Dr. Hastings, in his ‘ Worcestershire,’
notices that one was taken alive near Fladbury.
Of those shot in Yorkshire, as already mentioned, Mr.
Fothergill’s was killed near Wetherby in the spring of 1805,
and is the subject of Bewick’s woodcut representing this
species, while others are in the Foljambe Collection at
Osberton. The Scops has been obtained some four or five
times in Norfolk, at seasons so opposite as June and
November, as well as at Brill, in Buckinghamshire, in the
spring of 1833 (Zool. p. 2596) near Pembroke in the spring
of 1868 (Zool. s.s. p. 1671), and many years ago, according
to Mr. A. C. Smith, in Wiltshire. Mr. Gould mentions the
occurrence of one in Berkshire, in 1858, and of another more
recently killed by Mr. J. H. Leche of Carden Park, Cheshire.
Mr. Bodd has recorded that one was shot at Scilly, in April,
1847, and (Zool. s.s. p. 2482) another taken at Trevethoe on
the north coast of Cornwall, early in January of the present
year (1871). In Ireland it has occurred twice, once at
Loughcrew in the county Meath in 1837, as mentioned by
Thompson, and again in the spring of 1847, at Kilmore in
Wexford. In Scotland one example is on record which tvas
shot in Sutherland in May or June, 1854. The story of
this species having bred in Castle-Eden Dene in Durham
has obtained wide currency but hardly requires serious contradiction.
This little species is almost confined to the temperate and
warmer parts of Europe and to North Africa. It does not
visit Scandinavia and is rare in Holland, Belgium and North
Germany. The limits of its eastward range cannot be
traced. There is a specimen from Gurieff, at the mouth of
the Volga, in the Leyden Museum, and Major Irby saw it in
the Crimea. Messrs. Elwes and Buckley state that it is not
uncommon near Constantinople, where it breeds; but they
did not observe it elsewhere in Turkey. In Greece Dr.
Lindermayer says it breeds in small numbers in Attica but
not in the Peloponnesus. In the Cyclades Dr. Erhard
states that it is common and resident; but in Corfu Col.
Drummond-Hay noticed that it arrived about the 15th of
April and Lord Lilford observed it there so late as the 17tli
of November. In Palestine it is a migrant, returning in
spring. I t is a bird of passage in Egypt, and extends to
Sennaar and Abyssinia in winter. Under the name of
Maroof it is well known all over Algeria, where it breeds.
Returning to Europe it is by no means rare in Portugal, and
in Spain is everywhere abundant, even haunting the towns,
where its clear ringing note may be nightly heard.* I t is
not common in France though occurring yearly, and even
breeding, says Vieillot, near Paris. In Provence some pass
the winter, but by far the greater number leave the country
in autumn, at which time they are remarkably fat, and
return at the beginning of April. In Italy, in like manner,
it arrives in spring and breeds, but in Sardinia it is said by
Dr. Cara to be stationary.
This Owl is remarkable for the constancy and regularity
with which it utters its plaintive and monotonous cry sound-
11 Lord Lilford was told by a Spanish lady that in Andalucía this species and
the Barn-Owl entered the churches to drink the oil in the lamps kept burning
there, and that it accordingly behoved all good Christians to kill them !