SHORT-EARED OWL 



Asio accipitnnus 



HE Short-eared Owl has not yet been completely ex- 

 terminated from the fens and moorlands in Great Britain, 

 and a few still breed among the marshes and moors in 

 England, Scotland, the Hebrides, the Orkneys and Shet- 

 lands. It is a regular visitor to Great Britain and 

 Ireland on the autumn migration, remaining with us 

 during the winter. 



Unlike the other members of the Owl family found in our Islands, the 

 Short-eared Owl is rarely found in woods or plantations, nor does it haunt 

 ruins, rock clefts, or hollow trees. Its home is on the flat ground, amid 

 furze tangles, sedgy marshes, and dreary, flat fens, or on the bare, heathery 

 moors, among the patches of rushes which mark the wetter portions of the 

 ground. It is more often seen during daylight than any other species, and 

 does not seem to be incommoded by the light of the sun to such an extent 

 as its congeners. Although generally a migratory bird, a few pairs are 

 permanently resident in suitable Jocalities, and may be seen at all seasons of 

 the year. The great autumn migration of Short-eared Owls takes place in 

 October, during the latter half of the month. It is a more or less gregarious 

 bird during the whole of the winter, and several are often flushed in a 

 comparatively small piece of ground. On rising from the ground it flies 

 off quickly, swaying its body from side to side, and will often rise some 

 height in the air and then fly steadily off, without any of that curiously 

 undecided action which is so characteristic of most of the Owls when suddenly 

 sent into the sunshine. 



Unfortunately the poor Short-eared Owl is shot down unmercifully by 

 keeper and farmer alike, who very foolishly imagine that they are destroying 

 vermin, while in reality they are destroying a valuable vermin-killer. The 



