84 A Pair of Long- Eared Owls. [Sess. 



to be on the point of entering the nest, when one of the 

 Carrion Crows, who lived in the Corner, passed over his head. 

 In an instant the male Owl leapt from the nest and made a 

 furious attack upon the Crow. Taken by surprise, the Crow 

 hurriedly evaded the onslaught, and, hurling maledictions, 

 quickened his pace out of the danger zone, while the Long- 

 eared parent settled on a tree near where we now heard the 

 female calling. He did not return to the nest, but some time 

 later flew out of the wood, leaving the female in possession. 



The male Owl always gave us the impression of being more 

 concerned about the eggs than about his mate. He was 

 never in any hurry to bring in food. Frequently we waited 

 an hour after he had departed and did not see him return, 

 and one night, April 4, 1911, we were in the wood from 

 3 A.M. till sunrise and saw nothing of him. During incuba- 

 tion he seemed to take life very easily — probably he was 

 gathering strength for the strenuous days which would ensue, 

 when a family was thrust upon him. 



In both years incubation of the eggs lasted approximately 

 twenty-eight to thirty days — a calendar month — thus tallying 

 with our previous observations elsewhere. In 1 9 1 we paid our 

 first visit to the family on June 3, and found four typical baby 

 Long-ears ranging from a Benjamin of one day old to a youngster 

 of seven or eight days with eyes partially opened, all rather 

 helpless and silent. The parent bird flew off the nest without 

 a sound when we were half-way up the tree, and she returned 

 about ten minutes after we had descended, with an equal lack 

 of excitement. In 1911 we paid our first visit to the young 

 on April 24, when three of the family were hatched and two 

 were industriously tapping their respective ways out of the 

 encumbering shell. The older youngster uttered the soft 

 chirruping sound which is one of the young Long-eared Owl's 

 characteristic notes, and which, I may mention, is barely 

 distinguishable from a similar note of the young Tawny Owl. 

 Again the sitting bird made no outcry on being disturbed, 

 and returned to the nest shortly after we had descended the 

 tree. But on our second visit, a fortnight later, disturbance 

 was not accepted quite so phlegmatically. This may have 

 been due to the fact that our visit was in the evening, when 

 the mother bird was more wakeful and in fuller possession of 



