THE LARGER INLAND BIRDS. 



BARN OWL. About the commonest of the " strix " or owl tribe 

 to be found in Formby. Incessantly persecuted by 

 the keepers as vermin. In my opinion he does 

 a deal more good than harm. 



LONG EARED 

 OWL. 



gy no means a rare bird about here. His food con- 



. . 



sists entirely of mice. 



SHORT-EARED Common enough all over the district. Breeds 

 occasionally in old disused hay lofts or the trunk 

 of some dead tree. 



WOODCOCK. Mark cock ! Bang ! Bang ! Bang ! Bang ! Bang ! 

 until distance has lent enchantment to the view, and 

 scolopax rusticola is a mile away. During flight time 

 the woodcocks will drop anywhere for a short rest. 

 A garden in the very centre of the village has been 

 known to hold one, and they are frequently put out 

 of the young firs which surround the writer's house. 

 They say a man will stalk a " ten pointer " all day, and 

 perhaps kill him in the end, but that he does not 

 inwardly feel half the satisfaction that a man does 

 who has killed the only woodcock at a big covert 

 shoot. 



WOOD PIGEON. Breeds frequently in all the woods around Formby, 

 and is about the most cunning bird alive. 



i 

 STOCK DOVE. Nests in the rabbit holes nearest the shore. 



ROOK. Universally common. 



