Short-eared Owl 133 



broad daylight with the regularity of a setter. In the breeding- 

 season they are constantly seen soaring high in the air o\-cr the marsh 

 or moor where the nest lies. 



The second and more remarkable difference between the habits 

 of this Owl and the remaining three, lies in its choice of a nesting 

 site. The Tawn\- Owl breeds in hollow trees, the Barn Owl in 

 disused buildings, ruins and often enough in hollow trees like the 

 Tawny, while the Long-eared Owl selects the densest part of the 

 thickest conifers. 



The Short-eared Owl makes her nest on the bare ground, either 

 in the heather or on the roughest marshes. Of actual nest there is 

 none ; the peaty earth is scratched bare and exposed, and on this 

 the eggs are laid. A few blades of grass, twigs of heather or feathers 

 may be dragged round the eggs to give it the semblance of a nest, 

 and that is all. 



The nest is well concealed, as a rule, by the heather bush or 

 clump of rushes in which it is built, but the nest itself is entirely 

 open, and the eggs are uncovered. The plumage of the sitting bird 

 is fairly protecti\'e amongst the surroundings of the nest — more 

 especiail\- the marsh nests— but I have not found, in the few instances 

 in which I have been fortunate enough to be able to make personal 

 observations, that the Owl trusts very much to these tints to escape 

 notice. She generally leaves the nest while the intruder is still far 

 away. 



On the mainland of Orkne\', which is the onl\- place where I 

 have found the Short-eared Owl at all common as a breeding species, 

 I have come across more than one nest on the moors, but never 

 with the bird upon the eggs. One or both parents were usually in 

 the air, and it was generally the " castings," which are numerous, 

 that guided me in the discovery of the nest. 



Returning to the Short-eared Owl in autumn. Their numbers 

 var}- greatl}- in different j'ears — plentiful in some, and comparatively 

 scarce in others. Their migrations are governed to a large extent, 

 it may be assumed, by the abundance of the food supply. In the 

 3ears when the\' are extra numerous here, the presence of these 

 Owls indicates either an abnormally prolific year among the small 

 rodents — field-mice, short-tailed voles, etc. — in Great Britain, or 

 an equal dearth of proper food in the northern home.* 



There are many instances in this countr\' and abroad, where a 

 plague of small rodents has been followed by the appearance of Short- 

 eared Owls in great numbers, to the manifest discomfort of the 

 mice and the eradication of these pests from the affected districts. 



In 1907, they were unusually numerous in our part of Suffolk, 

 making their appearance in about the middle of No\'ember. Two 

 of my nephews Snipe shooting on a small fen (November 9th), a 



*c/. 1892. — The great vole plague in Tweedsmiiir, Scotland. 



See also knn. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1893, pp. 129-145, Report of Commission ; and 1893. 

 - 202, Disappearance of Voles (Adair). 



