176 ADDENDA 
I have heard an owl screech at times at night 
near my house, when all is quiet and the babel 
of trams and motor cars has ceased. Barn 
owls like to build in barns (whence the name), 
but they also use old ruins, ‘or the-eavessan 
houses, and keep to the same spot year after 
year. They makes no particular nest, only 
gathering together perhaps a few odds and 
ends for the eggs. The tawny owl mostly 
prefers a hole in an old tree to nest in, especti- 
ally if it be covered with ivy. (The Jong- 
eared owl is generally thought always to appro- 
priate the nest of some other bird such as the 
magpie. This the tawny does sometimes 
also.) The tawny and long and short eared 
owls are birds of thickly grown dense woods 
with old ivy-covered trees. The barn owl’s 
eggs are three to five, dull white and almost 
vound. The tawny’s are two to five, and also 
almost round, and of a dull white. (The long- 
eared owl’s eggs are oval and white). Notethe 
white colour of the eggs as in the case of most 
birds that nest in dark places or holes. Owls 
nest in March to April, and I believe do not 
