A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 
tinguish the bird from its surroundings by the 
long, prettily-barred tail; I hoped to get a 
snapshot at the bird before it rose. Un- 
luckily, it was too wild to sit to the camera, 
but got up with a tumbling sort of flight and 
sailed off at a good height. The seven fresh 
eggs were lying in a hollow in the green 
moss, which was surrounded by a border of 
heather standing about fifteen inches high. 
A nest which was shown to me on another 
moor, also in the vicinity of the Solway 
Firth, in 1889, contained two addled eggs 
and one owlet on May 11th. The nest so-~ 
called was in fact a mere scratching in the 
ground, measuring in breadth about twenty 
inches, and surrounded by dwarf willows and 
tall heather. It contained only the remains 
of a sky-lark, but the remains of two tiny 
rabbits were near. I had the melancholy 
satisfaction of adding to the Carlisle Museum 
several owlets of different sizes which had 
been killed with their mother on another 
moor near the Solway Firth in June of the 
same year (1889). 
103. Tawny Owl. Syrnium aluco (Linn.). 
Locally, Brown Owl, Wood-Owl, Jenny 
Owlet. 
A common resident in the larger wood- 
lands, especially in the south and centre of 
the county. It is easily tamed if taken 
young, and becomes an entertaining pet. 
Two nestlings from different broods came 
into my possession in May, 1891, while still 
covered with down. They were never 
caged, but enjoyed the run of a large garden 
in which they could forage for their own 
food. One disappeared; but on a search 
being instituted, the lost bird was discovered 
to have taken up his quarters in a hole in the 
kitchen, from which he issued only to wage 
war on the ‘ black-beetles,’ until their extinc- 
tion forced him to return to an outdoor life. 
Even then he lived largely on cockroaches, 
though house-mice also bulked largely in his 
dietary. In fine weather this bird and his 
companion slept during the day in a bushy 
hawthorn tree; but in wet weather they 
sought shelter under a roof. ‘Their friendship 
remained intact until one of them was found 
drowned in the water-butt. 
104. Tengmalm’s Owl. 
(Gmelin). 
A rare visitant. This small owl has only 
once been procured in the county. On 
November 3rd, 1876, a female Tengmalm’s 
owl was shot while perching in a fir tree in 
the Newton Manor coverts near Gosforth, by 
James Wright, the keeper on the property. 
Nyctala tengmalmi 
105. Little Owl. Athene noctua (Scopoli). 
A rare visitant. Westward is the only 
parish in the county in which the little owl 
has been captured. The occurrence was 
notified to Mr. T. C. Heysham, who ac- 
cepted the identification of Dr. Bell. Mr. 
Heysham’s letter to Dr. Bell thanking him 
for a notice of the bird (which was probably 
sent in the flesh to Cockermouth for preserv- 
ation since we know that Dr. Bell saw the 
bird before it was skinned) is dated February 
16th, 1856, and the bird had only recently 
been obtained. 
106. Scops-Owl. Stops giu (Scopoli). 
A rare visitant. In June, 1887, I had 
the satisfaction of examining our only county 
specimen, which forms part of the collection 
of Mr. J. Whitaker of Rainworth. The 
bird made its appearance in the middle of the 
fell-side village of Renwick, on May. 15th, 
1875. Old Mrs. Dryden was fortunate 
enough to spy the bird as it perched towards 
evening in an ash tree. One of the sons, 
now deceased, ran out with his gun to shoot 
the owl, which took a short flight, but re- 
turned to the tree from which it had been 
disturbed and was promptly shot. 
107. Marsh - Harrier. 
(Linn.). 
Locally, Moor Buzzard (os.). 
Formerly a common breeding bird upon 
the moors and wastes of this county, especi- 
ally in the north ; but the marsh-harrier has 
long ranked as one of our rarest visitors. 
Whether it was ever common among our 
hills we do not know, but we have Dr. Hey- 
sham’s authority for believing that this bird 
was ‘very frequent on our moors ’ a century 
ago. It had become rare, in all probability, 
by 1830; the younger Heysham was evi- 
dently much gratified by receiving two im- 
mature birds that had been trapped for him 
near Alston, where they were then ‘ not often 
met with.’ Yet this species continued to 
frequent Spadeam Waste and other wild tracts 
of country for some years longer. The late 
Mr. Proud recorded the capture of two 
marsh-harriers near Brampton prior to 1846 ; 
the late Captain Johnson, a friend of Yarrell, 
told me that he was quite familiar with the 
marsh-harrier as a resident in the same district. 
A specimen was killed near Netherby prior to 
1880. 
108. Hen-Harrier. Circus cyaneus (Linn.). 
Locally, Glede, Ringtail (0ds.). 
A rare visitant, occasionally seen quartering 
the moors in winter, but too persecuted to 
Circus eruginosus 
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