LONG-EARED OWL. 45 



to its numbers in autiunn. The Eev. Mr. Lubbock, 

 writing- of this owl some 20 years ago, though mention- 

 ing the fact of its sometimes remaining to breed, 

 says, '^The bird may be considered altogether rare,'* 

 which statement is in strange contrast to the num- 

 ber of specimens now, at all seasons of the year, 

 brought to be preserved in this city (particularly the 

 case in 1854), and but for the thoughtless persecution 

 of keepers and collectors, a pair or more might be 

 found located in almost any of our woods or planta- 

 tions of sufficient extent. In the spring of 1856, no 

 less than ten young birds were taken in a plantation 

 at Sprowston, near Norwich, and several old ones were 

 shot; yet since that date a few pairs have still con- 

 tinued to frequent the same locality, and they are 

 more particularly plentiful in the extensive fir coverts 

 in the vicinity of our east coast. In the western and 

 south-western parts of the county they are also very 

 plentiful. Mr. Alfred Newton, writing from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Thetford, says, (Hewitson, Eggs Brit. 

 Bds., 3rd ed.) '^ The long-eared is the most plentiful 

 species of owl hereabout, and there are few planta- 

 tions of any size which do not contain a pair; as 

 far as my own experience goes, though it is opposed to 

 Messrs. Tube's opinion, quoted in your former edition, 

 I should say that the usual number of eggs laid by this 

 owl is four ; this year the gamekeeper has found a nest 

 with five eggs, and my brother has seen six young 

 ones in the same nest. The long eared owl usually 

 adapts a squirrel's nest, called hereabouts a drail, to its 

 own purposes. It appears to feed much on small birds. 

 I have found wheatears, willow wrens, and chaffinches, 

 or at least their remains, in its nest as often as not. I 

 think it delays the act of incubation until its clutch of 

 eggs is completed." The same accurate observer and 

 describer of bird life has also contributed the following 



