7o 



A YEAR OF SPORT AND NATURAL HISTORY. 



a short, sharp sound, something Hlce the note of a frightened frog, 

 but, of course, considerably louder. 



The Short-Eared Owl. — With the drainage of the fens and 

 the cultivation of waste grounds the number of these birds that 

 remain with us all through the year has become very greatly 



SHORT-EARED OWL. 



reduced. A few pairs nest still — chiefly in the east and north of 

 this island — but it is in the autumn, when shooters are about 

 in the fields, that the bird is most in evidence. For at that time 

 considerable numbers come to us across the German Ocean ; so 

 that in many parts they have gained, by coincidence of arrival, the 

 name of the Woodcock Owl. If one may compare the Tawny 

 with the Sparrow-hawk, and the Barn Owl with the Kestrel, 



