200 BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



water through a tube. The cries are more often uttered 

 soon after nightfall or just before dawn than at dead of 

 night. One Owl takes up the cry from another, and 

 where these birds are common the woods will sometimes 

 ring with merry hootings, which will cheer on his way 

 the benighted traveller who can take them as portents of 

 good ! Often a solitary bird, stationed all the time in 

 one tree, will call for a long time in a characteristic, 

 systematic way. First a single loud ' Hoooh,' then three 

 or four seconds pause ; then the vibrating water-bubble 

 roll, ' Hoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooh ; '' then perhaps forty 

 seconds silence, and the process is repeated. The 

 immature birds have a cry which has been described as 

 a harsh 'Kee-wick.' The species is the most strictly 

 nocturnal of our native Owls. 



The Tawny Owl is one of those birds which is common 

 in Great Britain, but is, for some reason, entirely unknown 

 in Ireland. In the larger island it is abundant and wide- 

 spread, and in some parts of Scotland it is the commonest 

 Owl. It will be noticed that both the Barn and Tawny 

 Owls are common in England and Wales, while the one 

 has solitary tenm-e of Ireland and the other almost the 

 same of Scotland. The next species, however, the Long- 

 eared Owl, is evenly distributed over the British Isles. 



In nesting habits the Tawny Owl closely resembles the 

 Barn-Owl, except that it is generally arboreal. When 

 the nest is in a tree, the site is frequently the interior 

 of a decayed trunk, but often the old nest of some other 

 bird is utilised. Rooks' nests in the middle of frequented 

 colonies have been known to be used in this way. It 

 is not uncommon, however, to find the eggs laid in a 

 more or less sheltered situation on some rocky crag, or 

 even on the bare ground. Laying takes place very 

 early, sometimes before the end of February. The three, 



