VOL. xm.] NOTES FROM SUFFOLK. 171; iCP ') ^ H 



wet salting and once in a reed-bed. This habit of flocking^t, 

 dusk is of course very noticeable in the Pied Wagtail in winter> 

 Nightjar {Caprinmlgiis e. europceus). — I spent some hours 

 at dusk watching Nightjars this year (1919) and two points 

 were observable about their antics. The shrill, gurgling note 

 at the end of the " churr " was invariably uttered when the 

 bird was flying, and was always accompanied by clapping of 

 the wings over the back. I never saw the wings clapped 

 except when two birds were chasing each other. Time after 

 time a bird would be churring on a branch, when another 

 would come flying up from behind, calling " kewick." At 

 once the churring bird would dart off its perch, clapping its 

 wings and " gurgling," followed by the other. I never saw 

 the wings clapped when a bird was flying alone. 



Short-eared Owl {Asiof.flammeiis). — On May 24th, 1919, 

 Mr. B. Ringrose observed a Short-eared Owl hawking over 

 a piece of common about 6 p.m. On the 26th, 27th and 28th, 

 it appeared about the same time and we watched it flapping 

 leisurely about in bright sunlight, covering a very big area, 

 though we did not see it catch anything. On the 28th, after 

 hunting for some time, it came back flying at a great height and 

 settled on the tip of a fir tree at the edge of a young wood. 

 When I came near the spot the other Owl suddenly appeared 

 from the wood and flew all round me, calling " wac, wac, 

 wac." On the 29th I watched one Owl go off hunting about 

 7 p.m. while the other began to call " ker . . wac " from the 

 heather, which at this point was waist deep and dotted with 

 young fir trees. When I came near both Owls mobbed me, 

 calling loudly, and at intervals diving heavily into the heather 

 or trees with shrill, mewing noises. One of them also would 

 clap its wings rapidly three of four times under its belly and 

 then bring them up straight over its back. Mr. Ringrose 

 and I failed to discover a nest or young ones, and found only 

 a well-grown young Lapwing, partly eaten, in the heather. 

 On the 30th, when we visited the place at 10 a.m. in hot 

 sunshine, one Owl was sitting on the top of a fir tree and very 

 wide awake. They mobbed us in the same way and again 

 on the 31st, and when I went at dawn on June ist I found 

 one still out hunting and one keeping watch. On this 

 occasion I found what was probably the nest, a clearing at the 

 foot of a stunted gorse bush, covered with feathers, droppings, 

 scurf, and a few very small peUets. I believe myself that the 

 young ones had been moved, but careful watch and a daily 

 search completely failed to find them in the jungle of heather 

 and fir trees, though we were mobbed every day at almost 



