STRIX OTUS. 155 



The New Year enters at the midnight still ? 

 A dark form flits from out the leafless bough, 

 The owl wails forth a greeting wild and shrill." 



On the 1st of May 1853 I got a nest with four young ones on 

 one of the large fir trees on Tentsmuir ; there was considerable 

 difference in the age of the birds, for some were nearly ripe, and 

 one was far from being fledged, which proves that, in some 

 nests at least, some are hatched before the others. On the 19th 

 of April 1856 I got another nest on one of the large Scotch fir 

 trees where I got the last ; there were three young ones and one 

 egg still unhatched. The oldest seemed to be about four days 

 old ; the next two days ; and the other newly hatched — the two 

 youngest were blind, the other not so. To show how keen the 

 mother was in her incubation — although the nest was upwards of 

 thirty feet from the ground — she did not leave her post until I 

 climbed up and touched the nest. The male flew off when I 

 approached within twenty yards of the tree. The young owls 

 were covered with grey-white down (or as nearly white as could 

 be). They have no " bars of faint brown when newly hatched," 

 as some authors assert, although 1 have got their nests when the 

 young were older — dusky white, with the bars beginning to 

 shine through the down. Their bills were completely developed 

 and well formed, of a fine leaden blue colour. They were too 

 young to emit any cry, or be aware of any intruder. On lifting 

 the oldest one it half-opened its eyes, then instantly shut them 

 as if the light affected them. The others could not open theirs ; 

 the youngest was much swollen about the eyelids, and the little 

 creature crowdled down and pushed itself underneath its fellows 

 as well as it could. The formation of the large opening for the 

 ear was quite distinct. I left the hatched young, but took the 

 egg, wrongly thinking it was addled. I carefully inspected the 

 nest — it was an old carrion crow's repaired, with the addition of 

 some fur ; there were several old fir cones in it as large as the 

 egg. I picked them out, as they were uncomfortable to the 

 young ones. The owl might have had as much instinct as have 

 pitched them overboard herself. I lay at the foot of a tree, six 

 yards off, to watch the old bird, as I knew she would not 

 remain long away from the young so recently hatched. She 

 soon came and alighted on a tree about 600 yards off, gradually 

 coming nearer until Avithin forty yards ; then noiselessly glided 

 amongst the trees until close to the one on which the nest was ; 

 then rose about two feet above the tree and alighted down upon 

 the nest with as much ease and precision as any diurnal bird, 



