40 CATALOGUE OF BITiDS. 



I 



soutli it may be found nesting in chalk pits and in the 

 cHffs overhanging the sea. In the niidhmd counties 

 it will make use of any old deserted nest when other 

 accommodation cannot be found ; and on the moors in 

 the north the steep rocky faces of the numerous 

 ravines and old ruined buildings are for the most part 

 resorted to. In the summer of 1868 I found a brood 

 of young Kestrels on a perfectly bare spot on an open 

 moor in Sutherland, and in the following year I was 

 shown three eggs on a shelf in a shepherd's shealing 

 on Ben Alisky, in Caithness, which had only been 

 deserted by its rightful owners the previous month ; 

 the bird making its escape through a hole in the 

 chimney while we were entering the building. 



The specimens in the case were obtained along the 

 coast near Canty Bay, in East Lothian, in June, 1867. 

 The case itself is copied from a Kestrel's nest in a 

 rock overhanging the road between Kenlochewe and 

 Gairloch, in Ross-shire. 



LONG-EA.RED OWL. 



Case 49. 



This species is common in most parts of the country, 

 being found, however, more plentiful wherever there 

 are fir plantations of any size. 



Unlike the short-eared Owl, these birds ai'e seldom 

 seen by day. Soon after sunset they leave the shelter 

 of the woods, and search the adjacent fields and hedge 

 rows for their prey. 



When I lived in East Lothian, I used to observe 

 these Owls during the summer, coming regularly at 

 dusk io the slacks for rats and mice, though the 



