BIRDS 



parents, and the egg of the cuckoo has been 

 found in Suffolk in the nests of the song- 

 thrush, blackbird, nightingale, whitethroat, 

 blackcap, willow-wren, yellow wagtail, tree- 

 pipit, red-backed shrike, spotted flycatcher, 

 chafhnch, bullfinch and reed-bunting, making 

 twenty-two species in all, while doubtless 

 other nests have been chosen which have not 

 been recorded or discovered. It is very rare 

 to find more than one cuckoo's egg in a nest, 

 but In May, 1902, a meadow-pipit's nest was 

 taken near Diss, containing three eggs of the 

 owner and two of the cuckoo, the two 

 cuckoos' eggs being quite unlike each other. 

 The cuckoo's egg has been found in a nest 

 with no other egg, and with from one to six 

 eggs of the foster-parent. Though the old 

 birds take their departure in July, a nestling 

 has been seen in August, and the young birds 

 sometimes remain till late in September. 

 The song from which the cuckoo derives its 

 name is familiar to every one, but it has another 

 note believed to be peculiar to the hen, which 

 resembles the spluttering sound produced by 

 pouring water from a bottle. The taking of 

 young cuckoos from the nest with the idea of 

 rearing them is not to be encouraged, as they 

 are troublesome to feed, uninteresting in their 

 ways, and usually die in a few weeks. Mr. 

 Hele tried his luck with several, but never 

 succeeded, and where so skilful and patient a 

 naturalist failed others are not likely to succeed. 



107. White or Barn-Owl. Strix flammea, 

 Linn. 

 Locally, White Owl. 

 As previously mentioned the West Suffolk 

 County Council has issued orders for the pro- 

 tection of all species of owls throughout the 

 year, and if owners and occupiers of land 

 would not only strictly forbid their keepers 

 to kill these birds, but also make it under- 

 stood that they wished to see and hear owls 

 about their place, these wholesale destroyers 

 of rats and mice would have a fair chance of 

 doing their work. All owls cast up the fur 

 and bones of their prey in pellets, and these 

 can be easily analyzed by putting a few in a 

 basin and pouring warm water over them, 

 when the bones of various small rodents will 

 be seen. A farmer whose knowledge of birds 

 enabled him to speak from experience once 

 said that 'any one who kills an owl ought to 

 get six months,' and the barn-owl is certainly 

 one of the most useful members of a highly 

 respectable county family. It is a resident 

 breeding in old trees, barns and church 

 towers, but migrants arrive in autumn. 

 These * Scandinavian barn-owls ' are usually 

 darker in colour than the resident birds, and 

 I 



a remarkably good specimen, with the entire 

 breast of a warm fawn colour, was obtained 

 near Lowestoft in February, 1898, which is 

 now in the Tostock rectory collection. 



108. Long-eared Owl. Asia otus (Linn.) 

 Locally, Horned Owl. 

 A resident, far from common, but breeding 

 every year. It frequents fir plantations, and 

 generally uses an old squirrel's nest on which 

 to lay its eggs, though the nest of a crow or 

 other bird is sometimes chosen. 



109. Short - eared Owl. Asia accipitrinus 

 (Pallas) 



Locally, Woodcock Owl or Sedge Owl. 

 This winter migrant derives its local names 

 from its arrival on the east coast in October, 

 when the woodcocks come, and from its being 

 often aroused from sedge or rough grass. Short- 

 eared owls vary a good deal in plumage, and 

 any one seeing a small pale specimen side by 

 side with a large dark one might easily imagine 

 them to belong to different species. Like the 

 woodcock, the short-eared owl occasionally 

 breeds, and a nest found at Tuddenham 

 (west Suffolk) in 1882 is recorded in the 

 Zoologist for that year. The nest, such as it 

 is, is invariably on or near the ground, and 

 the white eggs cannot be distinguished from 

 those of the long-eared owl. A beautiful 

 photograph of a nest containing seven eggs 

 is given in Kearton's Rarer British Birds. 



110. Tawny Owl. Syrnium aluco {)^\nn.) 

 Locally, Brovim Owl. 



This handsome owl always makes its pres- 

 ence in a locality known by its loud hooting 

 cry, which on a clear frosty night can be 

 heard at some distance, and possesses a great 

 charm for bird lovers. It is a resident, breed- 

 ing in hollow trees, and often has a full clutch 

 of eggs before the end of March. When the 

 young are hatched it becomes bold and even 

 aggressive, and the following incident recorded 

 shortly after its occurrence in the Zoologist of 

 1890 by the present writer may be of suffi- 

 cient interest to justify its quotation here : 

 ' A few days ago I had a novel and somewhat 

 unpleasant experience of the way in which 

 the tawny owl resents an approach to its nest. 

 About three weeks ago I found in an old dead 

 elm a nest containing three young and two 

 eggs, which we much hoped would not be 

 disturbed, as till last year this bird was not 

 known to breed here. One bright moonlight 

 night I was standing close to the trunk of the 

 tree, watching for the return of the birds with 

 food for their young. Presently one of the 

 parents perched on a tree a few yards away^ 



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