NOTES FROM NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. d 



birds at bird shows, I was never fortunate enough to get them 

 to nest until last spring, when a pair hatched and successfully 

 reared their young in my aviary. The following are the notes I 

 made concerning them : — Early in the autumn of 1884 I bought 

 three pairs of these Owls in immature plumage, and placed them 

 in a cage I had formed in a recess in my back garden. I had 

 just previously received a nest of three young of Strix otus, one 

 of which I sent away for want of room. One of the two remain- 

 ing ones came to an untimely end by breaking a leg and wing 

 in a fight. The odd bird soon fraternised with the new comers, 

 which continued for some time, when the Long-Eared Owl and 

 one of the most pugnacious of its companions had a pitched 

 battle which resulted in the death of the latter. Soon after two 

 of the little owls had a sharp set to, and another victim was 

 added to the death-roll. On dissecting the latter I found its 

 breast pierced all over ; the sharp claws of its antagonist in 

 some instances penetrating the breast-bone. I have never kept 

 birds that show such pugnacity. Two combatants will often- 

 times fasten their claws into each other with such ferociousness 

 that even a fall from the branch to the floor of the cage will not 

 cause them to loose their hold. In the month of March a pugna- 

 cious survivor commenced a series of combats, and so I put her 

 in a separate cage. I had now remaining three Little Owls and 

 the Long-Eared Owl. Two of the former now gave signs of 

 being on affectionate terms with each other ; and all through the 

 following month (April) this pair of birds kept well together, or 

 calling and answering each other throughout the day and night, 

 frequently during the day mating on the floor of the cage. On 

 May 19th, about 9 p.m., the female deposited her first egg on 

 the floor. This I took out for fear of being broken. On May 

 20th I removed the third Little Owl from the cage, and, having 

 made a nesting-place by covering a box about a foot square 

 with some pieces of cork bark, leaving an entrance in the front 

 near the top, I placed a few small sticks and some hay inside, 

 and hung it at one of the top corners of the cage. On May 21st 

 the pair immediately took possession, and the female, having 

 selected one corner, and made a depression in the nesting 

 material, deposited the second egg during the evening, both 

 birds removing some of the sticks from the box. On May 22nd 

 the male bird determined to have the cage to himself and 



