The general appearance of this magnificent bird when in an attitude of repose, the colour and markings of the plumage of the head, breast, and under-parts, and the great, staring, red-ringed eyes are admirably shown in the illustration. When, however, the bird is enraged, the body is depressed and the plumage ruffled out, while the wings are half-spread, thus increasing its size and producing a formidable appearance probably sufficient to overawe a number of would-be assailants other than man. In length this unmistakable bird measures as much as 27 inches, so that it is equal in point of size to a small eagle. The eagle-owl ranges over the greater portion of Europe, as well as northern Africa, and much, if not the whole, of northern and central Asia; and the species breeds as far north as Lapland and as far south as Gibraltar and Greece. It is true that the eagle-owls inhabiting the country to the east of the Ural Mountains have been regarded as a distinct species, under the name of _B. sibiricus_, while the name of _B. turcomanus_ has been proposed for those from the deserts of south-western Siberia, Turkestan, and Tibet; but these and others from Asia north of the Himalaya are so closely allied to the European bird that they are best regarded in the light of local races of that species. On the other hand, the American eagle-owl (_B. virginianus_) is a perfectly distinct species, with a range extending over the whole of North America, although this bird has likewise been split up into a number of nominal species. Eagle-owls of various species are also known from tropical South America, the whole of Africa, Arabia, India, China, and Japan, so that with the exception of the Malay countries and Australasia, the group has a practically world-wide range. [Illustration] To the British Isles the great horned owl--the _grand duc_ of the French and the _uhu_ of the Germans--is, nowadays at any rate, merely an occasional straggler, and then only to the northern parts of the kingdom, most, if not all of the specimens that have from time to time been taken in England being birds that have escaped from captivity. There is, however, a report that these splendid owls once inhabited the Orkneys. Eagle-owls thrive well and breed freely in captivity; years ago a number were kept, for instance, at Arundel Castle, but these, although long regarded as European birds, were eventually proved to belong to the North American species. Captive specimens have served to demonstrate in some degree the great age to which these owls will live; a female brought from Norway in 1827 having survived for seventy-five years in an English aviary, and having produced during the last thirty years of her captivity no less than ninety offspring.