156 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



His description of the bird and its habits was 

 far too accurate to introduce the slightest element 

 of doubt into the matter. Our most familiar 

 wood Owl is of course the well-known and 

 widely distributed Tawny Owl. There are few 

 well-timbered districts throughout the county 

 where this species may not be heard. Like 

 others of its kind, its note is more familiar to 

 most people than its form. This fine Owl is 

 by no mean^s confined to woods ; it may be met 

 with near to houses and farm buildings, often 

 taking possession of a solitary tree, and we have 

 notes of nests in linhays in the open fields. This 

 .Owl always interests us. We often linger in 

 its haunts at night-time, especially when there 

 is a full moon, to watch its ways and to 

 listen to its hollow-sounding, weird, and even 

 fascinating note. The gloom and the stillness 

 of the surroundings invariably heighten the 

 effect. There is something most impressive 

 about the woods at night. Nothing breaks the 

 stillness, save perhaps the muffled, ceaseless roar- 

 ing and pulsation of the distant sea, the purr 

 of a Nightjar on the adjoining warren, and the 

 ceaseless warbling and chattering of the Sedge 



