SHORT-EARED OWL. 169 
be seen quartering the ground in search of food at all hours of the 
day. When flushed it will not unfrequently rise to a considerable height 
in the air and then fly steadily away, without displaying any of that 
wavering undecided action so characteristic of the Barn-Owl when rudely 
sent into the sunshine. 
The food of the Short-eared Owl is composed of small mammals, small 
birds, coleopterous insects, and various species of surface-feeding fish ; its 
favourite and usual fare, however, is doubtless composed of field-mice and 
the various species of short-tailed voles. It will glide in noiseless airy 
flight above the marshy wastes, or quarter the stubbles and meadow-lands 
in search of its food, sail swiftly down the hedgerow-sides and take a 
Warbler from the spray, or search the old weedy watercourses for rats. 
It will also now and then strike the Bat as it sallies from its hole in the 
dusk of the evening, or prey upon the larger beetles that come abroad at 
night’s approach. Mr. Low states that the remains of Red Grouse and 
Plovers have been found in its nest; but such, certainly, if captured 
at all, were possibly only young or weakly birds. This species is one 
of the most deadly enemies of mice, rats, and, in Scandinavia, of 
lemmings. During the great plagues of mice that have from time to time 
occurred in various parts of Britain, notably in the Forest of Dean in 
Gloucestershire, the Short-eared Owl has flocked in numbers to the place, 
and played a principal part in extirpating the unwelcome and destructive 
hordes. ‘Too often, however, the poor harmless Owl is shot down by the 
thoughtless farmers or ignorant gamekeepers, who foolishly imagine they 
are ridding their domains of a pest, although in reality they are taking the 
life of one of their most valuable friends. 
It is very possible that the Short-eared Owl pairs for life. Unlike the 
other British members of this group of birds, that seek a covered site for 
their nests, the Short-eared Owl always rears its young upon the ground, 
and, most curiously enough, in an exposed and open nest. Its breeding- 
grounds are the marshy feus of the low-lying eastern counties, and in the 
north the broad expanses of heath on which the Harriers and the Grouse 
rear their young. In the southern counties the draining of the fenlands 
has done much to decrease its numbers in the breeding-season, and at the 
present time but few pairs are to be met with. Its eggs have been taken 
in the first week in April; but May is probably its usual laying-season, 
the young being abroad by the 12th of August. In the early summer of 
1881 (May) I had the good fortune to examine the nest of this bird, to 
procure its eggs, and gain some little personal knowledge of the bird 
itself. Howard Saunders and I went down to the Norfolk Broads under 
the guidance of our mutual friend Mr. A. H. Evans. The moment we 
arrived at the little inn close to Hickling Broad I was struck with the 
exact similarity of the scenery to that of Horster Mere in Holland, where 
