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  NESTING 
  OF 
  THE 
  LONG-EARED 
  OWL 
  (ASIO 
  OTUS) 
  

   ON 
  THE 
  GROUND. 
  

  

  By 
  Robert 
  J. 
  Howard. 
  

  

  (Plate 
  III.) 
  

  

  The 
  Long-eared 
  Owl 
  so 
  seldom 
  nests 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  that 
  

   proof 
  of 
  its 
  having 
  so 
  nested 
  is 
  of 
  interest. 
  Mr. 
  Stevenson 
  

   (' 
  Birds 
  of 
  Norfolk,' 
  pp. 
  46-7) 
  says 
  :— 
  " 
  Mr. 
  Spalding, 
  of 
  Westle- 
  

   ton, 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  on 
  one 
  occasion 
  he 
  knew 
  of 
  a 
  Long-eared 
  

   Owl 
  snared 
  on 
  her 
  nest, 
  which 
  was 
  placed 
  amongst 
  the 
  heather 
  

   at 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  a 
  fir-tree." 
  Col. 
  L. 
  H. 
  Irby 
  states 
  that 
  on 
  May 
  

   10th, 
  1897, 
  Mr. 
  Ogilvie 
  Grant 
  and 
  Capt. 
  Savile 
  Reid 
  found 
  a 
  

   nest 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  on 
  an 
  island 
  in 
  Loch 
  Syne, 
  Sutherland 
  

   ('Ann. 
  Scottish 
  Nat. 
  Hist.' 
  1898, 
  p. 
  50). 
  

  

  Although, 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  Blackburn, 
  the 
  Tawny 
  

   Owl 
  has, 
  to 
  my 
  knowledge, 
  been 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  small 
  numbers 
  for 
  

   the 
  past 
  eleven 
  years, 
  and 
  has 
  nested 
  in 
  Witton 
  Park, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  

   carefully 
  protected 
  by 
  the 
  owner, 
  Capt. 
  Feilden, 
  the 
  Long-eared 
  

   Owl 
  has 
  not 
  occurred, 
  I 
  think, 
  nearer 
  than 
  some 
  woods 
  in 
  the 
  

   Ribble 
  valley, 
  about 
  ten 
  miles 
  distant. 
  On 
  the 
  25th 
  March 
  last 
  

   I 
  saw 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  perched 
  in 
  larches 
  five 
  yards 
  apart, 
  

   not 
  far 
  from 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  Billinge, 
  a 
  hill 
  in 
  Witton 
  Park, 
  whose 
  

   sides 
  are 
  well 
  clothed 
  with 
  timber 
  — 
  Scots 
  pine, 
  larch, 
  &c. 
  — 
  and 
  

   whose 
  heather- 
  and 
  bracken-covered 
  summit 
  is 
  807 
  ft. 
  above 
  

   sea-level. 
  Judging 
  from 
  the 
  quantity 
  of 
  castings, 
  which 
  were 
  

   composed 
  almost 
  entirely 
  of 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  Sparrows 
  and 
  Chaf- 
  

   finches, 
  the 
  Owls 
  must 
  have 
  used 
  these 
  perches 
  for 
  several 
  weeks. 
  

   A 
  few 
  days 
  after 
  the 
  date 
  named 
  only 
  one 
  bird 
  was 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  

   tree, 
  so 
  a 
  careful 
  look-out 
  was 
  kept 
  on 
  the 
  Wood-Pigeons' 
  nests, 
  

   of 
  which 
  there 
  are 
  a 
  considerable 
  number 
  on 
  the 
  hill. 
  On 
  April 
  

   27th 
  the 
  headkeeper 
  told 
  me 
  that, 
  when 
  searching 
  for 
  Pheasants' 
  

   eggs, 
  he 
  found 
  the 
  Owl 
  nesting 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  amongst 
  the 
  

   bracken, 
  forty 
  yards 
  from 
  her 
  old 
  perch. 
  I 
  visited 
  the 
  nest 
  

   several 
  times, 
  but 
  never 
  put 
  the 
  old 
  bird 
  off, 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  see 
  the 
  

  

  x 
  2 
  

  

  