WAITE: VERTEBRATES OF THE WESTERN AINSTY. 97 
Alcedo ispida Linn. Kingfisher. Resident, and by no means 
uncommon in suitable places in the district; Iam glad to be 
able to say that it is certainly increasing in numbers and _ breeds 
regularly, not only in the banks of the Wharfe and Nidd but also 
on several ponds especially those which are protected by over- 
hanging brushwood. 
Upupa epops Linn. Hoopoe. A male was shot by Mr. Ripley 
in Cowthorpe Woods, near Tockwith, in June, 1877. He fired 
at a rabbit, and on going to pick it up, found that he had shot 
the Hoopoe also (Wesley, Zool., July 1877, p. 298). 
Cuculus canorus Linn. Cuckoo. A regular summer visitant ; 
common throughout all parts of the district. I once saw a 
Cuckoo fly from a hedge with a large caterpillar in its beak, and 
suspecting it to be a larva of the Oak-Eggar Moth (Lastocampa 
quercus) which I knew to be plentiful in the locality, I went to 
the place and gathered over twenty larve during the afternoon. 
The egg of the Cuckoo has been taken in the district, from 
the nests of—Pratincola rubetra, Sylvia cinerea, S. hortensis, 
Acrocephalus phragmitis, Accentor modularis, Motactlla lugubris, 
MM. rat, Anthus trivialis, A. pratensis, Emberiza atrinella, and 
E. scheniclus. 
Strix flammea Linn. Barn Owl. Locally called Yellow Owl. 
Resident ; not very common. It occurs in most parts of the 
district, and has bred at Thorp Arch, Walton, and Newton 
Kyme, and does so regularly at Ingmanthorpe and Wilstrop. 
I have more than once seen an example in the pigeon-house 
mentioned in connection with the Starling, but it has never bred | 
in it. At Wilstrop a nesting-hole has been regularly occupied 
by Barn Owls for the last thirty-five years. Two broods were 
reared last year (1890). There were six in the first and five in 
the second brood. I saw the latter in ‘down’ on November rst, 
and Mr. Harrison tells me they were not on the wing until 
a month later. This nest chamber is about four feet square, and 
is paved to the depth of four inches with pellets, which form the 
only repository for the eggs or young birds. A note on the Barn 
Owl at Wilstrop (by Mr. Harrison) will be found in the Nat. 
Hist. Journal, Feb. 15th, 1879. 
Asio otus (Linn.). Long-eared Owl. Resident, but uncommon ; 
it occurs in many of the thicker woods, notably at Wetherby. 
and breeds at Newton Kyme, but this is the only place in the 
district where I know of it doing so. 
April 1891, - 
