BUBO MAXIMU S, Sibd.
bed Kagle Owl.

Bubo maximus (Sibb.), Flem. Hist. Brit. Anim., De Or,

Strix bubo, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 24.

Bubo, Bubo Italicus et B. Laponicus, Briss. Orn., tom. i. pp. 447, 482, 486.
nudipes, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 209?

—— Atheniensis, Daud. ib., p. 209.

albus, Daud. ib., p. 210.

—— microcephalus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. pt. 11. p. 55.
—— Europeus, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 115; Atlas, pl. 17. iol,

—— Germanicus, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. eelel oe

—— septentrionalis, Brehm, ib., Peo pl Gets. 1.
Asio bubo, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. D7.
Otus bubo, Schleg. Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur., We ts

 

 

 

 

Ir I were to indulge in a poetic vein while writing the history of this noble species, which stands at the
head of all the European Owls, I might speak of its selection as the emblem of all that is wise and learned,
or I might take up another strain and write upon its midnight voice, or upon its presence being regarded
as an omen of death and other evil forebodings ; but I will let such fancies and fallacies stand for what they
are worth and write a page on its history—not that I have any additional information to communicate
respecting its natural habits and economy.

The Great Horned or Eagle Owl, which is unquestionably the largest and finest species of the birds for )
which the generic term of Budo is now employed, is a native of the northern regions of the Old World, and
is represented in the New by the Bubo Virginianus. The two species bear a very general resemblance to
each other, but each possesses well-defined characters by which they may be distinguished. The regions
of the Old World in which the present bird dwells are the forest- or mountain-districts of Central Europe,

Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Siberia, as far as the Amoor land. In England, Ireland, and Scotland it is

extremely scarce, and its presence, when it does occur therein, must be regarded as purely accidental. In
fact, should the traveller consider that if he made a journey to the European continent, whether it be to

Norway or Switzerland, he would meet with this noble bird, and see its great fiery eyes blazing from the

branch of a forest-tree, or its egrets standing erect in the sky-line when surmounting a rock, or hear its

hollow hooting from a gully, he would probably be disappointed ; for nowhere is the bird abundant, and it

is only in some favoured locality, far from the abode of man, that it takes up its quarters for the purpose af
breeding. The areas over which the mated pairs range must be of considerable extent, and the amount of
food necessary for their existence commensurately great. I should suppose that there is Do one of my
readers who has not seen this bird in a state of captivity ; for there are not many parts of England, from the
renowned Castle of Arundel in the south to the successful rearing in cages of my friend Edward Fountaine,
Esq., of Easton near Norwich, in the north, where living examples may not be: seen, and nowhere to
greater advantage than in the fine Menagerie of the Zoological Society in the Regent dee -

The food of this powerful Owl consists of fawns, hares, grouse, and other birds, which are pounced upon

on the ground and seized with its feet, the head being rarely advanced towards the prey until its struggles

 

| y 1 | t fi 1 | d Mr Hewit sOn by he
B fa t oO { > Ss OOS i t 3 agile fj S c urnisne Ol Ne > ‘ i

late Mr. John Wolley, and published in the third edition of his wor on the ‘ Eggs of British ae ee |

am sure I shall be held excused for copying his graphic description instead of attempting to describe wha

I have not seen myself. | , on M
After expressing the great difficulty of “ hunting up the ornithological ae 5 siti

Norway, where the birds are few and the area over which they are scattere¢ vast ¢ | alt . | ' = |

1 to find a nest of Striv bubo ; many expeditions of some niles, anc

nest with two young ones and an egg just hatching,

It was on the 20th of May, and after climbing to

tain-side broken up into crags

he writes—* First, I was determinec
several days lost, have resulted in the finding of a single
and this after inquiries at every place I have been to.

the mysterious cave of Skulberg, that our road lay under oe ee
and ledges of the character which is usually 80 attractive to ae ; | ae patie
the foot ; and an old man pointed out the direction from which the hooting: '

i i istening consultation and taking
evening. Whilst I was listening to the consultation < aking

if. at a ere ‘+ht above us, and, mellowed 1
along the edge of the cliff, at a great height abov , and,

There was a little village at

a survey with my glass, an Osprey flew

, the distance, there came a full