BIRDS OF NIGHT. 39 



keep close to cover if they can get it. A dunlin 

 shoots over the wall, then another, at last a whole 

 flock. What is driving them ? See, there comes a 

 short-eared owl. He catches sight, and throwing 

 himself up in the air he makes for the marshes; he 

 is not affected by the gale. A little to leeward a 

 shore shooter is making his way towards the salt- 

 ings. A snipe springs from a clump of rushes in 

 front of him. He fires, and wounds the snipe ; only 

 the tip of its wing is injured, so it does not drop 

 at once, but wavers in its flight, crying, " Scape ! 

 scape ! " The owl raised by the shot sees this and 

 takes in the situation at once. With a dash he 

 catches it and is off, elated with his success, and 

 none the worse for the anathemas hurled after him 

 by the disappointed shore shooter. 



Where the woodcock owl makes his home he can 

 take enough and to spare to supply his wants. You 

 can see him hunt by day; and, judging by his 

 actions, he is a successful hunter. His light frame 

 and swift flight enable him to catch birds that few 

 would give him credit for. 



The last owl that I will mention, the little owl, is 

 very rare in our islands. Perhaps I may be allowed 



