NOTES AND QUERIES. 435 



baited a trap with the quarry, and the next morning the Hawk was 

 found in the trap. It was one of the finest female Peregrine Falcons 

 that I have seen. — G. B. Corbin (Ringwood). 



Hoopoe near Wick. — An adult male Hoopoe [Upupa epops) was 

 shot on the moor near Wick last August, and is now in my collection. 

 Geo. Dickinson (23, Abercromby Square, Liverpool). 



The Long-eared Owl (Asio otus). — Has it been observed that this 

 handsome species of Owl was commoner than usual during the past 

 summer ? In the valley of the Avon it seems to have bred in some 

 numbers, as I saw them in all stages of growth, and especially in the 

 latter half of June and through July, when the majority were almost 

 fully feathered, but the " horns " not entirely developed. In this stage 

 the thing that struck me most was the beautifully varied tints of 

 plumage, especially about the facial disk ; no two seemed exactly alike, 

 and one presented a particularly grotesque appearance — around the 

 eyes and underneath the beak was almost entirely black, whilst the 

 margins of the disk seemed whiter than usual, which " threw up " the 

 inky black tips in a remarkable manner. A large number of these 

 Owls must have been killed, as the gamekeeping community aver they 

 come to the coops and carry off their young birds, and no amount of 

 reasoning will convince them that mice and their kin more than young 

 Pheasants are sought after by the Owls. The coops are usually closed 

 when the soft-plumaged, silent Owl is on the wing, and the marauding 

 rodents, in their nocturnal rambles, come for the scattered grain or 

 other food, or even to purloin a chick ; but because the Owl is seen in 

 the vicinity he is ruthlessly slaughtered, when in fact he is more 

 guardian than culprit. — G. B. Corbin (Ringwood). 



Plumage of Montagu's Harrier. — I should be greatly obliged if any- 

 one having a sexed example of the young female Montagu's Harrier 

 {Circus cineraceus) would tell me if it is marked on the under parts 

 with longitudinal markings or streaks. Yarrell says that young females 

 have the under parts unmarked (like young males) ; but it seems to me 

 curious that the young birds should be unmarked on the under parts 

 in all cases while the adults are strongly (and heavily in some cases) 

 marked. The tendency in birds of prey is for markings on the under 

 parts to become small, or to disappear, with increasing age of the 

 individual. In the volume for 1901 (p. 476) I recorded the occurrence 

 of a young Montagu's Harrier (not sexed, but believed by me to be a 

 female) in Northamptonshire. In identifying this specimen as Montagu's 

 Harrier, I relied on the shape of the fifth primary {vide Mr, Howard 



