i-9 1 3-1 9 1 4.] A Pair of Long-Eared Owls. 91 



period of desertion may vary. With birds like the Carrion 

 Crow, which are greatly attached to their nesting haunt, it 

 may be reduced to a minimum of a few weeks ; with birds 

 like the Missel Thrush it may last until the autumn ; with 

 others, like the Sparrow-hawk, it may be more or less con- 

 tinuous until the following spring. The Long- eared Owl 

 probably falls into the same category as the Sparrow-hawk. 

 Towards the end of October, and again in November 1910, 

 a single Long-eared Owl roosted for several days in Eoost 1, 

 which may be taken as indicative of a certain disposition to 

 return to the nesting quarters during the winter. After that, 

 despite a daily scrutiny, no Long-eared Owls were seen in the 

 Corner until their return in February 1911, as already re- 

 corded. In the winter of 1911-12 both birds were seen at 

 irregular intervals roosting in the trees of the Corner, proving 

 that under some unknown circumstances the Long-eared Owl 

 will use his nesting quarters in the interval between one nest- 

 ing season and another. We frequently watched these birds 

 during their winter sojourns, but had small recompense for 

 our pains. They rose very late — sometimes three-quarters 

 of an hour after sunset — and flew off after one or two faint 

 calls, which were scarcely recognisable as the whee and 00 of 

 the pre-nesting period. There were no gyrations and no 

 wing-clapping ; these were features of the nuptial season, and 

 we had to wait until February before they were exhibited 

 again. But it is no part of my present purpose to venture 

 into 1912; the winter of 1911 completed our two years' 

 observations. 



In these two years we had probably seen more of a pair 

 of Long-eared Owls than most people, and yet how little 

 after all, how extremely little, indeed, of that elusive entity 

 — the bird behind the feathers. And we may take our 

 leave of this pair as we saw them during these winter days, 

 asleep in their old quarters — two slim, tapering figures, 

 perched under the deep shadow of the pine crowns, im- 

 passive, after two seasons' labours still mysterious and 

 inscrutable, perhaps for ever unknowable — two birds of 

 the night. 



[The lecture was illustrated by lantern-slides.] 



