124 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



action, as well as from his excitedly erratic flight, 

 as he rolls over grotesquely in mid-air, rising 

 gradually as he nears you, you may safely infer that 

 a nest is not far away. His flight somewhat recalls 

 that of the Barn-Owl : indeed, under certain con- 

 ditions of light and atmosphere, some specimens 

 appear almost as pale as that species, when on the 

 wing ; but the Short-eared Owl's primaries are 

 markedly longer, and seem to he braided with 

 dark brown, with an orange splash above the dark 

 pointing. The bird on the wing at a long range 

 is pale buffish-ochre in colour ; at a very long 

 distance there is created an impression of uniform 

 creamy -white, especially as the creature floats over 

 the dark slope of a heathery brae. When, however, 

 the Owl is on the ground very close to you, this 

 tint is seen to be nicely patterned and streaked 

 with brown. Curiously enough, when the 

 bird is on the ground, within a moderate dis- 

 tance of you, it assumes a decidedly greyish cast, 

 out of which sombre shade its pale face and ruff 

 the former with the glaring yellow eyes set in a 

 dark, circular frame of stiff feathers, the latter with 

 its frilling of black and fawn show up almost 

 uncannily. The poorly-developed ear-tufts (seldom 

 exceeding f in. in length, and generally less), 

 although now fully erected under pressure of 

 annoyance, are hardly discernible. You should 

 notice that, when the bird is thus at rest on the 

 ground generally on a tump or hummock of soil, 



