NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 277 



an opportunity occurs for shooting the old birds. This is some- 

 times but too easily accomplished, as they continue bringing prey 

 to the tethered capjtive long after it should have been hunting the 

 moors on its own account. From, a jDublished list of " vermin " 

 destroyed by Lord Ailsa's keepers, within a limited area, between 

 25th June, 1850, and 25th November, 1854, we find that 310 

 "ash-coloured hawks " were killed in that interval.* 



Montagu's Harrier {Circus Montagid). 

 Our only authority for recording this species is a notice by the 

 late Mr Thompson in his " Birds of Ireland," vol. i., p. 83, where 

 it is stated that a specimen — a male bird — vv^as shot on a moor 

 near Ballantrae in 1836. 



STRIGID^. 



The Long-eared Owl {Otus vulgaris). 



Sparingly distributed in Ayrshire, and some parts of Wigtown- 

 shire, frequenting fir woods, especially where the trees are of 

 some age. As a rule, this species is characteristic of the eastern 

 side of Scotland. 



The Short-eared Owl [Otus hrackyotos). 

 Well known in the higher grounds, where it probably breeds, 

 although we have not heard of any authentic discovery of its nest 

 of late years. It formerly bred on the moors above Portpatrick. 

 This bird occasionally takes voluntary flights by day, and appears 

 to hunt over turnip and potato fields in quest of field mice, thus 

 proving itself a useful friend to the farmer. 



The White or Barn Owl (Strix Jlammea). 



This beautiful owl is not uncommon, taking up its abode in 

 ruined castles, which are numerously scattered throughout Ayr- 

 shire. Some of these ruins are situated in very romantic places 



* To show the ignorant and indiscriminate nature of the slaughter referred 

 to, we may state that the list likewise includes thirty- three "Fern Owls," 

 catalogued as offenders, wth Brown Owls, Horned Owls, and Barn Owls — all 

 innocent of the destructive propensities ascribed to them. Making the usual 

 allowance for the proverbial diligence of keepers in general, we cannot but 

 regard the destruction of the poor Nightjar as the result of a melancholy, but 

 fortunately unusual, ignorance of the bird's habits. 



