THE SHORT-EARED OWL. 51 



cold to the sea-coast, since they flew about as Hawks do 

 when hunting for prey, and occasionally alighted among tlie 

 sand-hills. I ev^n fell in with several heaps of feathers, 

 showing where some unhappy hird had been picked and 

 eaten. A few days afterwards, however, I inquired at 

 another part of the coast whether there Avere any Owls 

 there, and received for an answer, " In"o, because there are 

 no Eabbits;" from which I inferred that these birds have 

 the reputation of hunting larger game than Thrushes, a 

 charge which the size and power of their hooked talons 

 seem to justify. 



THE EAEK OWL. 



STRIX FLAMMEA. 



Beak yellowish white ; upper parts light tawny yellow mimitely vnriegaterl 

 with brown, grey, and white ; face and lower plumage white, the feathers of 

 tlie margin tipi^ed with brown. Length fourteen inches; breadth nearly three 

 feet. Egg-s white. 



Returning from our Summer-evening's walk at the plea- 

 sant time when twilight is deepening into night, when 

 the Thrush has piped its last roundelay, and the Nightingale 

 is gathering strength for a fresh flood of melody, a sudden 

 exclamation from our companion " What was that ? " 

 compels us to look in the direction pointed at just in time 

 to catch a glimpse of a phantom-like body disappearing 

 behind the hedge-row. But that the air is still, we might 

 have imagined it to be a sheet of silver paper wafted 

 along by the wind, so lightly and noiselessly did it pass 

 on. We know, however, that a pair of Barn Owls have 

 appropriated these hunting grounds, and that this is their 

 time of sallying forth ; Ave are aware, too, how stealthily 

 they fly along the lanes, dipping behind the trees, search- 

 ing round the hay-stacks, skimming over the stubble, and 

 all with an absence of sound that scarcely belongs to 

 moving life. Yet, though by no means slow of flight, the 



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