STRIGID/E. 



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THE SHORT-EARED OWL. 



Asio ACciPiTRiNus (Pallas). 



Unlike the preceding arboreal species, the Short-eared Owl is an 

 inhabitant of the open country, especially upland moors, fens, heather 

 and furze on hillsides, and more or less damp places ; while in the 

 latter part of the year it is often met with in turnip-fields and 

 stubbles. Owing to the fact that large numbers arrive regularly from 

 the Continent in autumn, and remain for the winter, it is frequently 

 flushed by sportsmen, and is often called the Woodcock-Owl, from 

 the coincidence of the time of its appearance, and, perhaps, from its 

 twisting flight ; in some years it is much more plentiful than in others. 

 Notwithstanding the drainage of the fens a few pairs still breed in 

 the eastern counties, and northward its nesting-places, though widely 

 scattered over our moorlands, become more frequent ; while in Scot- 

 land and the islands they may almost be called numerous. In Ireland 

 this species has not yet been recorded as breeding, but it is as com- 

 mon there in winter as it is in the rest of the United Kingdom. 



Though the Short-eared Owl sometimes nests in the Shetlands, 

 it is only a wanderer to the Faeroes, and its occurrence has not been 

 authenticated in Iceland. From 70° N. lat. down to the shores of 

 the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, it is generally distributed 



