244 Wild Life in Wales 



carried into some thick tree, and left there amongst the 

 branches, without the protection of any nest. By this time, 

 they are able to grasp quite firmly with their feet, and to 

 rest in the erect attitude of their parents, and each little 

 fluffy ball takes up a position quite isolated from, and 

 independent of, its fellows. Indeed, each young one may 

 then be found on a separate tree, though more usually they 

 are not so widely scattered. Sometimes perhaps when it 

 has chanced to fall one may be found snugly ensconced at 

 the foot of a tree, probably in one of the angles made by 

 the buttressed roots. The castings beneath a tree thus 

 occupied frequently demonstrate that the young have 

 passed some time there, or their absence may point to only 

 recent occupation. Sometimes I have known the young 

 to be shifted to fresh quarters, nearly every night, by 

 jealous parents ; and when I have tried the experiment of 

 removing them myself, and leaving them in some spot of 

 my choosing, they have invariably vanished before the 

 following morning. 



The hooting of the Tawny Owl is sometimes incessant at 

 night, and is then said to be influenced by the weather, 

 whence the east country proverb, " When owls whoop much, 

 expect a fair morrow." By hunting men, I have heard it 

 maintained that much hooting proclaimed a good scenting 

 day ; and when the prediction failed to materialise, nothing 

 was, of course, easier than to hedge with some such remark 

 as " Scent problems most difficult, you know ; even owls 

 not infallible ! " In the spring, especially, hooting is 

 frequently indulged in during daylight ; and the attitude 

 assumed by the bird, in the delivery of its weird song, may 

 then be studied without difficulty. The head is lowered, 

 the wings being frequently slightly drooped, and the notes 

 seem to be rolled in the much distended throat, the feathers 

 standing out nearly at right angles to the skin, and the bill 

 being alternately opened and closed. The extended hoot is 

 invariably followed, after a short interval, by a dissyllabic 

 note of nearly equal volume. 



Owls must either be regarded as being much less timid 

 than any other bird of equal size, or they must largely 



