38 OUR RARER BIRDS 



bird falls a victim now and then; but the Wood Owl is 

 a valuable friend to man, and the senseless practice of shoot- 

 ing and trapping this harmless bird cannot be too severely 

 condemned. 



The Wood Owl, in my opinion, pairs for life, and the same 

 nesting-site is tenanted year after year. In some cases the 

 birds only frequent their nesting -place during the breeding 

 season, haunting for the remainder of the year some dense 

 clump of ivy or group of thick fir trees in the daytime. 

 It is a rather early breeder, often laying its eggs in the 

 beginning of April, and even in exceptionally forward seasons 

 by the last week in March. The nest, if a mere hollow is 

 worthy of such a name, is often in the decayed trunks of the 

 forest trees, especially in oaks and elms ; but occasionally an 

 old nest of a Magpie or Crow is selected, or even the bare 

 ground at the foot of a pine tree under the dark sweeping 

 branches. This latter locality is chosen in districts where 

 large timber is scarce. Holes in rocks are sometimes used as 

 a nesting-place. The soft powdered wood at the bottom of the 

 holes, or the dry scanty soil accumulated in the crevices of the 

 rocks, or the pine needles on the ground under the trees, form 

 the Wood Owl's only nest ; and on this it lays three or four 

 big, round, shining white eggs, which cannot be confused with 

 those of any other species of British Owl. As soon as the 

 first egg is laid the bird begins to sit, so that we generally 

 find eggs either in various stages of incubation, or young birds 

 in various degrees of growth. The young are noisy little 

 creatures, and very often betray their whereabouts by their 

 loud clicking cries. The old birds keep them well supplied 

 with food, and as soon as they can hunt for themselves they 

 are abandoned, although, so far as I can determine, only one 

 brood is reared in the season. 



In autumn, when the cares of bringing up a family are 

 over, the Wood Owls become much more wandering in their 



