BIRDS OF THE NIGHT 29 



spheric conditions as the Woodcocks do, which 

 they usually precede. They are thus known to 

 sportsmen as the Woodcock Owls. But although 

 the Short-eared Owl is a true migrant, some pairs 

 still remain in this country to breed, and it is be- 

 lieved that, before the draining of certain of the 

 fen districts in the East of England, their nests 

 were comparatively common. As the Raven is one 

 of the earliest birds to breed in England, so the 

 Short-eared Owl is one of the latest; young birds, 

 unable to fly, being found in mid-August. 



The distribution of the Short-eared Owl is very 

 wide. It occurs in varying numbers in every county 

 in Great Britain, and, at one season or another, 

 inhabits the whole continent of Europe and the 

 greater part of Asia. 



The food of the Short-eared Owl consists chiefly 

 of field-mice and beetles, and occasionally, like 

 others of its family, it takes small birds. One of 

 the matters of marvel in Nature is the way in which 

 birds are attracted to distant areas in which the 

 food-supply has become suddenly and unexpectedly 

 augmented. The case of the Vulture is well known. 

 In the trackless desert some worn-out beast of 

 burden falls dying in the sand. A moment before 

 the vast sky-space might have been swept vainly 

 for the sight of any living thing. Now, almost 

 before the trappings can be torn from the stricken 

 beast, a dark speck is seen in the far-distant hori- 

 zon, followed by another, and yet another, and in a 

 little while the air is filled with the wheeling wings 

 of the Vultures waiting for their feast. Again, 

 amidst the hills of Sutherland, one mav fish for half 



