I$2 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



caught. The flight of this and other species of owl 

 is peculiarly noiseless. Its cry is a shrill "screech," 

 hence it is sometimes called " screech-owl." (For illus- 

 trations of this, and the other British Owls, see page 88). 



LONG-EARED OWL #. Rather common, especially 

 A sio otus. round theWrekin. It prefers Fir woods. 



Short-eared Owl. A Winter visitor frequenting moors or 

 A . aocipitrinus. open ground, sometimes occurring in 



Oct. Mar. considerable numbers in such situations. 



Rev. J. B. Meredith writes: "In the 

 autumn of 1874, at Tern, Wellington, we found it im- 

 possible to drive partridges, which were numerous, into 

 a large field of seed clover, in which we subsequently 

 found seven Short-eared Owls." 



BROWN, TAWNY, or WOOD OWL B. This is the 

 Syrnium aluco. only Owl that " hoots," its cry being 



usually expressed by the syllables 

 " To-whoo." It is found in thick woods, especially fir 

 plantations, and roosts by day crouched up against the 

 trunk of a fir tree, which it resembles so closely as to 

 be almost invisible. Owls, Hawks, and other carnivor- 

 ous birds, eject the fur and bones, etc., of their food that 

 will not digest, by their mouths, and their nests are often 

 lined with these unsavoury pellets. Examination of 

 them proves that they feed almost entirely on rats, mice, 

 and large beetles. The eggs of Owls are always white 

 and rounded. Only two are laid at first, but before 

 the young hatched from these are fledged, another pair of 

 eggs is laid. There are instances on record of even 

 two broods of different ages, and a pair of eggs, being 

 found together in one nest. 



