120 OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS. 



times found with the lower half of the abdomen en- 

 tirely white, and the other parts of the body here 

 and there spotted with that colour. This, and the 

 common buzzard, bear indiscriminately, in these 

 parts, the provincial name of Puttock. 







LONG-EARED OWL.* 



April 16, 1827. THIS morning we found the nest 

 of a long-eared owl in an old ivy-tree much tenant- 

 ed by jackdaws, one of whose holes had been mono- 

 polized for the purpose. This confirms what authors 

 state as to this species of owl not making any nest 

 of its own, but availing itself of that of some other 

 bird. The nest contained two eggs, which had not 

 yet been incubated. The long-eared owl is occasi- 

 onally, but not very commonly, met with at Bottis- 

 ham. It seems partial to the gloom of thick fir 

 plantations. 



SHORT-EARED OWL. f 



THIS species of owl is not uncommon throughout 

 the low grounds of Cambridgeshire, where it makes 

 its first appearance towards the latter end of Septem- 

 ber. I have been informed that in the fens, in the 

 neighbourhood of Littleport, it is sometimes found 

 in astonishing plenty, particularly after those sea- 

 sons which have been most productive of field-mice, 

 which appear to be its favourite food and a great 



* Otus vulgaris, Flem. f Otus brachyotos, Flem. 



