The Zoologist— February, 1866. 7^ 



Ornithological Notes from North Lincolnshire. 

 By John Cordeadx, Esq. 



(Continued from p. 9802.) 



October and November, 1865, 

 Shorteared Owl. — On several occasions during the last month 

 I have seen these owls in our marsh district. Their usual haunts are 

 the shorn wheat-stubbles, or amongst the long grass and reeds on the 

 banks of the drains. I now very seldom cross the shorn stubbles in 

 the marshes without putting up some of them. To-day (November 

 30th) I put up one in this situation, and shortly afterwards two more 

 of these birds rose before me from the grass on a drain-bank. They 

 are extremely tame and fearless, often allowing me to approach within 

 a few yards without rising, and, on taking wing, seldom fly far, often 

 not out of gun-shot. My dog has frequently pointed them in these long 

 stubbles : in one instance the owl seemed more inclined to fight than 

 to turn tail; it scarcely rose above the stubble before it perched again 

 on a clod, not more than three yards away, and all the time intently 

 watching the setter, who still remained staunch to his point. I have 

 been informed that several others have lately been seen in this district, 

 and on the 9th, when out shooting in a neighbouring parish, I flushed 

 one in a plot of mangold-wurzel. As they are not likely to be dis- 

 turbed by roving gunners, I trust they will remain with us during the 

 winter. Some ieyf years since, when crossing a piece of boggy land in 

 this parish, in great part overgrown with rushes, my dog came to a point : 

 on going up five owls rose : one that I fired at fell slightly winged, and, 

 after a violent resistance and a severe scratch or two from his sharp, 

 needle-like claws, was safely stowed away in the net of the game-bag. 

 On reaching home I turned him out into a two-stalled stable, his only 

 companion being an old pointer. For several days I tempted him with 

 small birds, mice, raw beef, &c., but to no purpose ; he resolutely 

 refused everything, and I began to despair of ever being able to keep 

 him in confinement. Going into the stable one night with a bull's-eye 

 lantern, I threw the light upon the place where my captive generally 

 sat crouched in the straw under the crib, but no owl was there : on 

 looking into the other stall I was astonished to see him up to his 

 thighs in the dog-pan, coolly helping himself to the dog's supper, 

 while his four-footed companion looked down with evident satisfaction 

 at his strange comrade. From this time he threw away all shyness, 

 and ran into the opposite extreme : every evening he was regularly 



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