" The young vary very much in size." 



THE SHORT-EARED OWL 



A 



FEJV pairs of birds of this 

 species breed on the marshes 

 in East Anglia, and in 

 the heather in the North 

 of England, Scotland, and 

 the Orkneys every spring ; 

 but by far the greater 

 number seen in this country 

 during the winter months are migrants 

 from the Continent. It is a bird with 

 a very wide geographical distribution, 

 being found in Europe, Asia, Africa, 

 and America, with very little difference in 

 its appearance or habits in any of them. 

 It is called by sportsmen the Wood- 

 cock Owl, on account of the fact that its 

 arrival in numbers upon our shores 

 synchronises with that of the bird be- 

 loved by every devotee of the shot gun. 

 It is frequently seen in small companies 

 by sportsmen when out partridge or 

 snipe shooting. 



7 40 



A very interesting thing in regard to 

 this species is that during the recent 

 great vole plagues that have afflicted 

 the Lowlands of Scotland, numbers of 

 Short-eared Owls have congregated in 

 order to take advantage of the plentiful 

 supply of food, just as they did in the 

 sixteenth century when " a sore plague 

 of strange mice " visited Kent and Essex. 

 Another remarkable fact in this con- 

 nection is that when they enjoy their 

 natural food in such lavish plenitude 

 they breed earlier in the season, and 

 their fecundity is greatly increased. 

 Normally this species lays from three 

 to five eggs although upon occasion 

 I have seen as many as seven in a nest 

 and breeds in April and May ; but Mr. 

 Richard Bell records that, during the 

 great vole plague of 1890-93 in Scotland, 

 one of his shepherds found a nest con- 

 taining twelve eggs on February 29th. 



