SHORT-EARED OWL. 169 



be seen quartering the ground in search of food at all hours of the 

 day. "When flushed it will not unfrequently rise to a considerable height 

 in the air and then fly steadily away, without displaying any of that 

 wavering undecided action so characteristic of the Barn-Owl when rudely 

 sent into the sunshine. 



The food of the Short-eared Owl is composed of small mammals, small 

 birds, coleopterous insects, and various species of surface-feeding fish ; its 

 favourite and usual fare, however, is doubtless composed of field-mice and 

 the various species of short-tailed voles. It will glide in noiseless airy 

 flight above the marshy wastes, or quarter the stubbles and meadow-lands 

 in search of its food, sail swiftly down the hedgerow-sides and take a 

 Warbler from the spray, or search the old weedy watercourses for rats. 

 It will also now and then strike the Bat as it sallies from its hole in the 

 dusk of the evening, or prey upon the larger beetles that come abroad at 

 night's approach. Mr. Low states that the remains of Red Grouse and 

 Plovers have been found in its nest ; but such, certainly, if captured 

 at all, were possibly only young or weakly birds. This species is one 

 of the most deadly enemies of mice, rats, and, in Scandinavia, of 

 lemmings. During the great plagues of mice that have from time to time 

 occurred in various parts of Britain, notably in the Forest of Dean in 

 Gloucestershire, the Short-eared Owl has flocked in numbers to the place, 

 and played a principal part in extirpating the unwelcome and destructive 

 hordes. Too often, however, the poor harmless Owl is shot down by the 

 thoughtless farmers or ignorant gamekeepers, who foolishly imagine they 

 are ridding their domains of a pest, although in reality they are taking the 

 life of one of their most valuable friends. 



It is very possible that the Short-eared Owl pail's for life. Unlike the 

 other British members of this group of birds, that seek a covered site for 

 their nests, the Short-eared Owl always rears its young upon the ground, 

 and, most curiously enough, in an exposed and open nest. Its breeding- 

 grounds are the marshy feus of the low-lying eastern counties, and in the 

 north the broad expanses of heath on which the Harriers and the Grouse 

 rear their young. In the southern counties the draining of the fenlands 

 has done much to decrease its numbers in the breeding-season, and at the 

 present time but few pairs are to be met with. Its eggs have been taken 

 in the first week in April; but May is probably its usual laying-season, 

 the young being abroad by the 12th of August. In the early summer of 

 1881 (May) I had the good fortune to examine the nest of this bird, to 

 procure its eggs, and gain some little personal knowledge of the bird 

 itself. Howard Saunders and I went down to the Norfolk Broads under 

 the guidance of our mutual friend Mr. A. H. Evans. The moment we 

 arrived at the little inn close to Hickling Broad I was struck with the 

 exact similarity of the scenery to that of Horster Mere in Holland, where 



