1909-1910-] TJie Long-Eared Owl. 251 



Long-eared Owls. From the Crow nest of 1906 we flushed 

 an Owl. On climbing we had the pleasure of gazing at 

 another single Long-eared Owl's egg. Unless the Long-eared 

 Owl was polygamous, there must be two pairs in the wood. 

 Two pairs, where for two years we had been unable to find 

 one ! This almost amounted to what ornithologists style an 

 *' irruption " ! On the evening of the same day we heard two 

 Long-eared Owls calling in the wood — one from the neigh- 

 bourhood of the first nest, one from the Scots fir corner. 

 While we listened an Owl issued from the southern end, 

 circled over the low trees in a curious erratic manner — " flung 

 itself about in the air," — clicking its wings at intervals as a 

 Wood Pigeon does, but in an infinitely softer and less clumsy 

 fashion, and then disappeared in the fir belt. We had wit- 

 nessed for the first time what the authorities lay down as the 

 nuptial flight of the male Long-eared Owl. We had no 

 evidence upon which to base a different interpretation ; we 

 merely noted that in this case it had occurred after the first 

 egg had been laid. The authorities impose no time limit. 



On the following day we revisited both nests. The first — - 

 the nest in the southern belt — realised every dismal expecta- 

 tion. Bird and egg had disappeared. The second — the Scots 

 fir corner nest — fulfilled every sanguine hope. The bird was 

 still sitting. We could discern the tips of her " ear " tufts 

 and the edge of her tail from the ground, and did not disturb 

 her further. At length we had found an Owl who would 

 incubate an Qgg polluted by the gaze of the bird-nester's eye. 

 Alas for the vanity of human hopes ! after sitting on that 

 nest for several consecutive days to our knowledge, on April 

 10 she had gone. In our broken-spirited condition we made 

 no attempt to climb what was an exceedingly awkward tree 

 — you will remember this tree had been the Crow's selec- 

 tion, — and whether the egg or eggs had gone with her I am 

 quite unable to say. At the time I do not think we greatly 

 cared. The mournful fact for us was the bird's desertion — 

 mournful this time, I presume, because it could not be laid to 

 our charge. In fact, we could now reconsider all the previous 

 desertions and piously draw the inference that our visits 

 had had nothing to do with them. With a clear conscience 

 we could proceed to fix the blame. There being no other 



