THE " WOODCOCK " OWL 129 



antipathy towards a quadruped of this kind when 

 near its nest than it does towards a biped. 



Take a typical instance. Here, this 20th of May, 

 you are in a spot where, whenever you have passed 

 that way, a male ' Short-ear ' has always been 

 in evidence. To-day you have with you a dog. 

 The Owl is soon up how often a male " Short- 

 ear " appears suddenly, as if from nowhere and 

 turning quaint somersaults in the air, like some 

 Tumbler Pigeon. Presently, as the hound hunts 

 the tall tangle, he hurls himself at him, actually 

 striking him, thereby eliciting a shrill yelp of pain 

 and terror, and chiefly the latter. You know at 

 once that the nest is not far off. Almost im- 

 mediately, with undignified haste, there whirls 

 up under the dog's very muzzle a second Owl 

 the female off her nest, which is as usual in an 

 open circular space at the roots of the rough 

 growth of heather and rushes. This space 

 measures 17 in. by 15 in. across ; but the nest 

 proper if a shallow depression under the lea of 

 the surrounding stiff growth, which is 2 ft. high, 

 deserves such a high-sounding epithet only spans 

 Sin. by 8^ in. In it, besides four owlets (a 

 remarkably small brood), two being about five 

 clays older than their fellows, the eldest perhaps 

 eighteen days old, are some chipped remnants 

 of egg-shell, a few bits of broken rush and some 

 desiccated moss, while on all sides are scattered 

 ' pellets ' ' and droppings. Leading through the 



