THE TAWNY OWL. 



295 



tree for its nest;^ but sometimes lays in the deserted habita- 

 tion of a Magpie or Crow on the branches of a Scotch fir, 

 or in a crevice of a rocky precipice. The eggs, which are 

 from three to five in number, are considerably larger and 

 more oval than those of the Wood Pigeon, smooth, and 

 pure white. 



For some time after they are hatched, the young Owlets 

 are covered with a greyish white down, and, when first able 

 to fly, they sit about the trees in the vicinity of the nest, 

 where the old birds continue to feed them, and where in 

 summer evenings they utter their cry of " Kee-wick, kee- 

 wick." 



Houlet Ha', a farm on Spottiswoode estate, within a 

 mile of Westruther village, seems to have derived its name 

 from this bird. 



1 It used to breed in a hole in a large beech -tree at Finchy, on the Tweed, 

 near Paxton ; and Mr. Compton-Lundie of Spital tells me that a favourite nest- 

 ing place at Spital House is the interior of an old hollow ash. Mr. W. Duns, 

 Duns, says he has known the nest in a hole in a plane-tree at Nisbet, every 

 season for many years past. It has been seen coming out of holes in the rocky 

 precipice of Scarsheugh, on the Tweed, near Milne Graden, during the breeding 

 season. 





