THE SPREAD OF THE LITTLE OWL. 337 



was seen in 1894 at Chawston, in the north-east of the 

 county, and from that time appears to have made a 

 strong-hold of that neighbourhood. In 1897 it was seen 

 at Turvey, on the western border of Bedford, about 

 midway between Woburn and Lilford, and at Cranfield, 

 nearer Woburn. In 1898 it was reported on the east side 

 of the county, and at Lidlington, north of Woburn. In 

 1899 it was still more generally distributed throug'h the 

 county, and by 1900 it had reached Luton, in the extreme 

 soutli of Bedfordshire. 



In 1901 it was reported as nesting at Great Barford and 

 Southill, in the eastern part of the county, while in 1892 

 and the following years it nested in a number of other 

 places. Mr. Steele-Elliott (I.e.) estimates its i)resent num- 

 bers in Bedfordshire at two or three hundred pairs, and 

 states that it is already the commonest Owl in the county, 

 and is still on the increase. 



Meanwhile it had spread to Ware, in the east of Hert- 

 fordshire, by 1897, and bred there that year and in 1898,* 

 while by 1902 it was quite common and resident as far 

 south as Watford. t 



In June, 1903, one was heard at Hockley, in the south- 

 east of Essex. I In 1906 we hear of several being seen 

 in the north of Hertfordshire, § and in 1907 three young 

 were taken from a chalk pit near Royston, || and a nest 

 was found near Watton-at-Stone, and another near 

 St. Albans.t 



To the south-west it was reported in Buckinghamshire, 

 from Turville, in 1894, and from Fingest in 1896, both 

 these places being in the south-west of the county, while 

 it was recorded from Bletchley, in the north-east of the 

 same county, in 1902.** In east Berkshire a pair was 

 seen in the beginning of 1907 in Windsor Forest. ft In 



* P. A. Buxton, Zool., 1907, p. 430. f W. Bickerton, in lit/.. 



I F. W. Frohawk, Field, 12, x., 1907. § Stuart Maples, Zool., 1907, p. 353. 



II J. P. Nunn, in litt. T Allan Ellison, Zool., 1907, p. 430. 



** E. Hartert and L. W. Rothschild, Victoria History of Bucks. 

 (Birds), p. 141. ff B. G. Van De Weyer, in litt. 



