which resembles the syllables ' chiz-wick, chis-wick ' ; this may be heard well 

 on into August. Autumn and winter are the best seasons to hear the hoot 

 of the Tawny Owl ; and when there are two or three pairs of these birds in 

 some large wood, they may be heard answering each other. It is no rare 

 thing to see a Tawny Owl abroad long before sunset in some of the dark 

 foggy days of winter, though the bird seems utterly bewildered if driven 

 by accident into the sunshine, and is mobbed by all the small birds in the 

 neighbourhood. 



The Tawny Owl is said to pair for life, and it seems to confine itself 

 to one locality, unless it is disturbed. I knew two nesting-sites in South 

 Perthshire which were tenanted year after year by the same pair of birds 

 But frequently they have two or three favourite nesting-spots, which they 

 use in turn, like many other raptorial birds. 



It is an early breeder, and eggs are often laid in the beginning of March. 

 Second nests are to be met with all through summer, my latest date being the 

 23rd of July. The usual site for the nest is some hollow tree ; sometimes 

 they will choose an old Squirrel's nest among ivy, an old Hooded Crow's 

 nest in the top of a tree, a cleft in some cliff, or inside some old cart-shed. 

 I have taken the eggs from the mouth of a rabbit-hole in Perthshire, and on 

 another occasion have seen eggs in a similar situation. The bird makes no 

 nest, merely laying its eggs on the bottom of the hollow chosen, the pellets, 

 forming the refuse of its food, being the only lining. 



The eggs laid vary in number from three to four; they are pure glossy 

 white, very round in shape, and vary in length from 1-9 to r65 inch, and in 

 breadth from i'6 to 1*45 inch. Incubation is usually commenced as soon as 

 the first egg is laid ; hence eggs and large young birds are often found 

 in the same nest. 



Young birds are covered with a dirty white down ; they remain in 

 the nest for some time, and then sit on the neighbouring branches uttering 

 their peculiar clicking note when they are hungry. They are fed by their 

 parents long after they are able to fly. 



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