56 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



woods or even plantations of any height, and never 

 haunts old buildings, but must be sought for in open 

 grassy fields, commons, low furze-brakes, sedgy 

 marshes, and is not uncommonly met with among 

 turnips. In the fens the Short-eared Owl is some- 

 times found, at the time of year above mentioned, 

 in flocks of twenty or thirty together, probably just 

 arrived on their southward migration, but in this 

 county I never met with more than two at the same 

 time. I imagine that this bird is less incommoded 

 by the sunlight than any of our other Owls, as when 

 disturbed it sometimes mounts to a considerable 

 height and flies steadily off, without the wavering 

 undecided action of the Tawny and Barn Owls. I 

 have more than once seen this Owl, evidently seeking 

 its prey, in broad daylight, when its mode of opera- 

 tion precisely resembled that of the Harriers, to which 

 family, indeed, in many of its habits it closely 

 approaches. 



The Short-eared Owl has a very wide geographical 

 distribution, extending, according to Yarrell, pretty 

 nearly all over the continents of Europe and Asia, 

 many parts of Africa, and America from Greenland 

 to the Straits of Magellan. I have myself received a 

 living specimen from Chili, in which I could detect 

 no difference from our typical European species. 



Of the nesting and breeding-habits of this bird I 

 know absolutely nothing from personal observation, 

 but it formerly nested not uncommonly in the fens of 

 Cambridgeshire, and still does so occasionally on the 

 moors of northern England and Scotland. The nest, 

 according to various authors, is always on the ground, 

 and generally is nothing more than a slight cavity 

 scraped by the birds, without any lining. It appears 



