148 THE BIRDS OF COOKHAM AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
and both parties wheeled round and round, higher and higher, 
each apparently striving to get above the other, but eventually 
the Starlings succeeded, for the Hawk gave up the chase, and 
bore off in the direction of White Place, till he became finally 
lost to sight. The other time when we were witnesses to the 
attack of a Hawk was in the middle of last September, but on 
this occasion the encounter did not end favourably for the 
Starlings, as the bird of prey dashed out of the woods into the 
midst of the flock and struck down one, which fell headlong towards 
the ground, but before he had fallen twenty yards, the Hawk - 
shot like lightning, caught him up, and bore him off to the 
woods. We were close observers of the fray, which took place 
immediately over Formosa. Mrs. De Vitré possesses a fine old 
female, and it is curious that of the specimens shot near Cookham 
within the last five years, I have not seen one male bird. The 
latter is of more secluded and retiring habits than the female, 
and seldom ventures out from his strongholds, leaving his larger 
and more powerful mate to run the risk. 
Sub-order II. Acorprrres Nocrurnt. 
Fam. StRIGIDz. 
Sub-fam. SyRNUNz. 
Syrnium. 
9. Syrnium aluco. The Tawny Owl. 
Cookham is one of the places where this species of Owl, now 
becoming scarce in England, can still be found. In the woods 
of Hedsor and Cliefden, and the opposite grounds of Formosa, 
the Tawny Owl pursues his noiseless flight and is heard hooting 
in the stillness of the summer night. I can quite understand 
this species feeding on fish, as it exhibits in confinement great 
partiality for water, and the birds in the Zoological Gardens, 
Regent’s Park, seem to delight in their bath, standing in the 
trough and splashing the water all overthem. When thoroughly 
soaked they look most comical with their immense eyes, which 
seem larger than ever when the feathers round them are all wet 
and flattened. 
