Bird Notes Fhom Eskdale. ^o 



ill very restricted numbers in the outlying districts which were 

 infested with caterpillars. Very few, indeed, breed within a 

 radius of very many miles from it, and therefore it is wonderful 

 where the countless thousands came from. 



In the absence of old ruins, cliffs, or suitable rocks, they 

 require to satisfy themselves, as breeding places, with a very few 

 isolated hollow trees ; or the thatched roofs of cottages, of which 

 I do not think there are two left in the parish of Eskdalemuir. 

 As an example of the avidity with which these birds will seize 

 upon the first suitable breeding place offered to them, I may state 

 that, iu order to encourage them to breed near my house, I made 

 twenty-five boxes and hung them up on the surrounding trees. 

 AVithin a week every box was occupied by its pair. One box, 

 which was blown down by the wind, I fastened against the wall 

 of the house, and on the evening of the same day a pair had 

 taken possession of it. Unfortunately I had made the entrance 

 holes of these boxes a little larger than was necessary, and I 

 regret that this oversight on my part was taken advantag-e of by 

 a brown owl which had a nest of young ones close to the house. 

 Many a time 1 have seen it land upon the perch of a box, insert 

 its foot, and pulling out a young starling, carry it off to her nest. 

 My mind was divided between destroying the owl, and by so 

 doing i-isk another plague of voles, or allow it to kill the star- 

 lings at the risk of another plag'ue of caterpillars. As the 

 starlings were the more numerous, I decided in favour of the 

 owl, and allowed her to follow out the bent of her instinct. 

 Apropos of this owl's nest, I may say that when the young had 

 HowM], but befoie they had gone far from the precincts of their 

 cradle, a famih' party from the house invaded the thicket where 

 they were. We were accompanied by the household cat. The 

 moment the old birds perceived pussy, one of them made a dive 

 on to its back and flew off with both its "hands" full of fur. 

 With a yell the cat started at full speed towards the house, and 

 prudently gave a wide berth to that thicket for many a day. 

 Proud of their achievement, both the old birds became very 

 aggressive to us. They made so many swoops close to our 

 faces that we had to put our arms up in front of them to preserve 

 our eyes from their repeated attacks. We became so alarmed 

 for the safety of the younger children that we considered 



