WOOD-OWL. 157 



so than the present species ; and when by aecideut driven from its place 

 of concealment during the day into the sunshine^ it seems utterly bewildered, 

 forming a butt for all the smaller birds, who mob it unmercifully. During 

 the summer the adult Tawny Owl is not heard to hoot so frequently, the cries 

 heard at that season being from the young, and usually uttered in the day- 

 time. It is in the autumn nights when its voice is heard to perfection ; 

 and it keeps up its cry with little intermission until the following breeding- 

 season. This note is most frequently uttered in the evenings and just 

 before dawn, and, although somewhat weird in tone, is far from melancholy. 

 In the pairing-season the male bird has a peculiar call, which sounds 

 singularly wild and uncanny. 



During the moulting-season, in July and August, the Tawny Owl does 

 not leave its forest home ; but when that time has passed it will often, 

 with its young, visit the farmyards and villages in search of prey, or 

 hunt the stubbles and open fields. In the dark and foggy days of winter 

 this Owl is sometimes seen abroad before sunset. 



Tawny Owls, to a certain extent, are migratory ; but the birds that breed 

 in our own land probably never quit their old home. In the autumn they 

 are frequently taken in the flight-nets on the low-lying coasts — sometimes 

 as many as half a dozen being caught together in a single night, leading 

 to the conclusion that they perform their annual wanderings in company. 

 These migrants come from northern lands, where the -winters are severe, 

 and of the small mammals and birds the former are all lying dormant 

 during the long northern night, and the latter ha\'e sped away to a 

 southern haunt to escape its severity. 



It is very probable that the Tawny Owl pairs for life, and confines itself 

 to one district if left undisturbed, although it seldom nests in the same 

 hole each successive year, but, like many of the raptorial birds, has two 

 or three favourite spots, using each in turn. It breeds somewhat earlier 

 than the Barn-Owl, its eggs often being laid early in March. But the eggs 

 and unfledged young are sometimes taken throughout the summer up to 

 the month of August; it is therefore possible that this bird has two or 

 more broods in the year. The bird's daily roosting-place, however, is not 

 always its nesting-site; for it will sometimes frequent dense ivy-clumps or 

 pine trees, only quitting them during the breeding-season. Usually the 

 eggs are laid in a hole in a tree — in some cavity in a venerable moss and 

 lichen-covered oak, or in the interior of a beech or elm whose trunk is 

 rifted and decayed into a dozen suitable nesting-places. Occasionally the 

 bird will rear its young in a similar situation to that which the Barn-Owl 

 selects. It will also sometimes breed in an old Wood-Pigeon's nest or 

 squirrel's " drey " in an ivy-covered tree, and at other times will choose 

 a deserted nest of a Crow or Magpie. More extraordinary choice, how- 

 ever, still, is a hole in the ground. Mr. Gurney records that in Norfolk 



