NOTES AND QUERIES. 183 



always been troubled with this habit they have of calling the young to 

 a fresh spot. — Wm. Farren (Regent Street, Cambridge). 



The Sounds produced by the Long-eared Owl (Asio otus). — Mr. 

 Howard Saunders, in his ' Manual,' says, with reference to this bird : 

 " The young utter a loud rnewing, and the old birds occasionally make 

 a barking or ' quacking ' noise, both while on the wing and also when 

 perched ; but as a rule this species is rather silent, and certainly does 

 not ' hoot ' like the Tawny Owl." Other works on ornithology that I 

 am able to consult say little or nothing on the subject, though Mr. W. 

 Swaysland, in ' Familiar Wild Birds,' comes nearest, I think, in his 

 word-spelling of the note, which he says " may be said to resemble the 

 syllable ' hoo-ok.' " As I have often listened to the strange sounds 

 produced by this bird, I will now attempt briefly to describe them. 



Sound No. 1 I have heard at 5 p.m. on Jan. 9th, and 7 p.m. on 

 March 29th ; on the latter date and hour when Thrushes and Black- 

 birds were in full song. By quietly listening just outside a fir-planta- 

 tion I heard the first sounds of the awakening Owls — "oo-woo, oo-woo" 

 — a low faint coo rather than a hoot. Sometimes, when one is within 

 a very few yards, it sounds like " roo-oo " or "ivhr-oo." It is no 

 louder and somewhat suggestive of the coo of the domestic Pigeon, 

 and, I should think, could not be heard at a greater distance than fifty 

 yards, even when heard under the most favourable circumstances. It 

 is thus infinitely less loud than the hoot of the Tawny Owl (Symium 

 aluco), which I think might be heard a mile away. But the former 

 species calls much more frequently — indeed, one might say con- 

 tinuously — for a considerable time after it has uttered the first sound. 



Sound No. 2. — This is about as musical as the noise made by a 

 scratchy slate-pencil drawn vertically across a slate ; " kyiark " is the 

 best word-representation I can make of it. A bad violin might produce 

 it, and it might be described as harshly cat-like. The young birds 

 (nestlings) make this same sound even more shrilly, but I think not 

 so loud. I have heard it in January, when, of course, there are no 

 young birds. 



Sound No. 3, which I regard as the most remarkable, I feel quite 

 certain is produced by the bird's wings being brought into contact 

 under the body whilst the bird is in flight, and that it is only produced 

 in this way. I have heard the sound on several occasions when there 

 has been quite sufficient light to enable me to note every stroke of the 

 bird's wings as it sailed about over and close to the tops of the low 

 spruce-firs, which here are its favourite haunts. The noise thus pro- 

 duced sounds like "bock," and is heard every time the bird's widely 



