294 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Short-eared Owl. Asia accipUrinus (Pallas). 



The Short-eared Owl (Plate 120) has a very wide range, being 

 met with in most parts of the world either as a nesting species 

 or winter visitor. In the British Isles it is a thinly distributed 

 resident, but a fairly common winter visitor. It breeds freely 

 in suitable places in the north of England and in Scotland, and 

 a few pairs nest in most English counties ; in Ireland it is 

 only known as a winter bird. Large numbers arrive from the 

 Continent in autumn, and are known as " Woodcock-Owls " ; 

 many remain to winter, but others are birds of passage. The 

 return migration is in March and April. 



Open country — moors, fens, marshes, hills and even cultivated 

 fields — are the haunts of the Short-eared Owl ; it roosts and 

 settles on the ground. I have seen it alight on a bush and, 

 once, on a tree, but it shuns woodlands. On the wing it 

 looks a large, bullet-headed, buffish bird with long, narrow, 

 rounded wings and tail ; even at close quarters the ear-tufts 

 are rarely visible unless the bird is excited. When hunting 

 and during courtship the flight is uncertain, rolling and 

 noiseless, but on migration or when flying by day, a frequent 

 habit, it is light, slow and direct. The long pinions beat 

 regularly, and it floats freely, with motionless wings held 

 slightly forward, soaring and wheeling like a Buzzard. It 

 has a harsh flight call, and the note of anger is a savage, 

 barking whowk. Under excitement it produces a crack with 

 the wings ; even when this is inaudible owing to distance the 

 sharp downward stroke, distinctly lifting the bird's body, is 

 plainly visible. When an angry bird was flying just above me, 

 near the nest, it frequently brought its wings almost if not quite 

 together directly under the body, shaking them with a curious 

 excited quiver ; Seebohm noted a similar performance when he 

 was at a nest. The bird usually travels at a great height ; I 



