234 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



— "oop, oop" — an "oop" every third second. The " shoo-oogh " 

 comes at much longer and generally very irregular intervals — one bird 

 which I attempted to time varied from nine seconds to twenty seconds 

 in the length of her pauses, and this was in the height of the courtship 

 season, when the Owls are most voiceful. (3) The "oop" can be 

 plainly heard for half a mile. The "shoo-oogh," in the case of a 

 strong- voiced individual, I have heard at three hundred yards — across 

 an open field, not among trees — but one would generally need to be a 

 good deal nearer than this to hear it. (4) The " ooping " bird, when 

 it takes flight, immediately claps its wings, producing the resonant 

 noise which Mr. Gyngell describes — I must confess that I had imagined 

 the wings were clapped over the back, like those of the Nightjar and of 

 the Wood-Pigeon, but I at once accept Mr. G-yngell's welcome observa- 

 tion that the contact is under the body — and it then flies about, 

 repeating the claps at measured intervals, near the place where the 

 female sits. The " shoo-ooghing " bird, on the contrary, flies from 

 her tree in perfect silence. A curious property of the "oop " sound is 

 that when heard quite close at hand it seems insignificant in volume, 

 and one would never suspect its power to carry for anything like the 

 distance to which it can really be heard. In the height of its season 

 (i. e. the middle of February) it is begun each evening about half an 

 hour after sunset, and can be heard — if several pairs are breeding in 

 the vicinity — going on incessantly throughout the entire night. — 

 C. B. Moffat (36, Hardwicke Street, Dublin). 



Under the above heading, Mr. W. Gyngell writes (ante, p. 183) on 

 the calls of the Long-eared Owl. However, I cannot agree with his 

 description of the seasonal call of the male. Since January, 1864 

 (when I first became acquainted with the calls of the male) I have had 

 ample opportunities of observing the birds, and listening to their calls, 

 for several pairs breed every season in the trees of this place, breeding 

 in the old nests of Magpies and Sparrowhawks, and but seldom in 

 those of Books. Occasionally I have had the pleasure of listening to 

 four or five birds in different parts of the place calling in rivalry to 

 each other ; when that is the case the calls are not so continuous, for 

 the birds pause in their calls oftener to listen to their rivals. 



Sound No. 1. — The call of the male is not a double syllable word, 

 the call being merely the low-toned word of "oo," long drawn out, 

 emitted at regular intervals of a few seconds, and may be kept up from 

 ten minutes to half an hour or longer without ceasing if the bird is 

 undisturbed. I have repeatedly listened to birds calling at the short 

 distance of ten to fifteen yards, specially observing and listening for the 



