86 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



and the eggs were found by a shepherd and given 

 by him to "the young squire/' the landlord's son, 

 for his collection. In July this year (1899) I dis- 

 turbed a stone curlew on the same down; a solitary 

 bird, probably a survivor of the pair that tried to 

 breed here two years before, revisiting his old home. 

 And perhaps that wild yet human-hke whistle it 

 uttered in my hearing was its last farewell to 

 downland. 



It will be news to most naturalists that the long- 

 eared owl frequented and probably bred in the thorn, 

 holly, and furze patches among the South Downs until 

 recently. I had this from the same observant shep- 

 herd who enlightened me about the moles, and the 

 information came out incidentally. He was telling 

 me of some curious experiences and of curious things 

 he had seen during the long years of his shepherding 

 on these hills ; and related that about fifteen years 

 ago a ewe in his flock dropped a lamb which had a 

 round flat face with two round staring eyes set close 

 together in the middle of it, and a nose coming to a 

 sharp point, and bent do'vvnward like a hooked beak. 

 The lamb appeared healthy and strong at birth, but 

 it could not suck, its mouth being tightly closed, 

 and in a day or two it died. Its resemblance to an 

 owl in its face, he said, was quite wonderful; and it 

 was his belief that the ewe when feeding among the 

 furze had come upon an owl sitting in the middle 

 of a bush, and the shock of suddenly seeing its 



