SHORT-EARED OWL 



WOODCOCK OWL SHORT-HORNED OWL HAWK OWL- 

 MOUSE HAWK. 



PLATE XXII. FIGURE I. 



Asio accipitrinus, . . . NEWTON. 



Asio brachyotuS) .... MONTAGU. BEWICK. 



Strix brachyotus, . . . LATHAM. 



Otus brachyotus, .... SELBY. GOULD. 



THE Short-eared Owl is a very widely distributed species. 

 Large numbers arrive in this country from the north 

 of Europe in the autumn. From the drainage of the fens 

 it does not breed with us so frequently as was formerly the 

 case. The eggs in the fen district are laid in clumps of 

 sedge, and on the moorland in tufts of heather. It is re- 

 markable amongst British Owls for rearing its young in an 

 open nest upon the ground, not, like the majority of the 

 group, selecting a covered site. 



The eggs, which are laid in May, are creamy white, of 

 a rotund form, with a smooth surface ; they vary from four 

 or six to even eight in number. 



