2l6 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



159 [367] Asio accipitrinus (Pall.). 

 Short-eared Owl. 



Common transient visitor, rare in winter ; September 27 to May 2. 



This bird formerly bred in this coast-county and there is an egg in the 

 Peabody Academy collection which Mr. J. H. Sears tells me he obtained from a 

 nest in Danvers, about twenty-si.x years ago, i. e., in 1878. I have seen the 

 Short -eared Owl as late as April 24th in the Ipswich dunes, and there is a spec- 

 imen in the Peabody Academy collection taken on May 2d, both very late dates 

 for a migrant Owl, as it should lay its eggs about the middle of April. A male 

 specimen in my collection, taken at Ipswich on April 8th, 1904, had, however, 

 only slightly enlarged testicles. In 1894, I saw the wings and tail of a bird of 

 this species that was killed by flying against Ipswich Light some time early in 

 May of that year, but the exact date is uncertain. 



Mr. Brewster says, in Minot's Land-birds and Game-birds of New England': 

 " Although writers have very generally asserted that this Owl regularly spends the 

 winter in Massachusetts, I know of but one specimen taken here at that season, 

 and our local taxidermists (whose experience, for obvious reasons, is well-nigh 

 conclusive on such a point), agree that the bird is rarely to be found near Boston 

 during the months of January and February." 



I am able to give the following four records for the winter season. A 

 specimen was taken at Ipswich on December 31st, 1895, by Mr. R. W. Gray, and 

 a male was taken on January ist, 1896, at the same place by Mr. G. C. Shattuck, 

 both recorded by Mr. R. H. Howe, Jr.^ On February 12th, 1896, my brother, 

 Mr. W. S. Townsend, shot a female at Ipswich and it is now in my collection. 

 On January 21st, 1900, I saw one in the Ipswich dunes. I also saw one on 

 December 6th, 1903, but this might be classed merely as a late migrant, 

 although the birds are most commonly found in October and November. 



The sand dunes are the favorite hunting-grounds of the Short-eared Owls and 

 their usual perch is the ground from which the intruder generally starts them at 

 close range. They fly off silently. After being disturbed once, however, they 

 cannot be approached easily again, as they generally rise long before their 

 neighborhood is reached. I have also seen one sitting on a post by the road- 

 side, and when startled, it flew over the salt marshes. Their flight is by alternate 

 flapping and soaring. 



1 Wm. Brewster, ed. : Minot's Land-birds and Game-birds of New England, p. 343, 3d ed.. 1903. 

 2R. H. Howe, Jr. : Auk, vol. 13, p. 257, 1896. 



