64 SHORT-EARED OWL. 



also breeds, building its nest,, upon the ground, amidst the 

 heath ; arrives and disappears in the south parts of England 

 with the woodcock, that is, in October and April ; conse- 

 quently does not breed there. It is called at Hudson's Bay, 



nearly about the same time with that bird, and its reappearance again 

 in the spring. Very few, if any, remain during the whole season, and 

 they are only met with in their migrations to and from the north, their 

 breeding-places, similar to the appearance, for a few days, Gf the rin- 

 gousels and dotterels ; in spring, singly or in pairs ; and in the fall, in 

 small groups, the amount of their broods when again retiring. They do 

 not appear to be otherwise gregarious ; and it is only in this way that 

 we can account for the flock of twenty-eight in a turnip field, quoted by 

 our author, and the instances of five or six of these birds frequently 

 found roosting together, as mentioned by Mr Selby. They appear at 

 the same seasons (according to Temminck), and are plentiful in Holland. 

 It is only in the north of England, and over Scotland, that they will 

 rank as summer visitants. Hoy, and the other Hebrides, where they 

 were first discovered to breed, were considered the southern limit of 

 their incubation. It extends, however, much farther ; and may be, 

 perhaps, stated as the extensive muirland ranges of Cumberland, West- 

 moreland, and Northumberland. Over all the Scottish muirs, it occurs 

 in considerable abundance ; there are few sportsmen who are unac- 

 quainted with it ; many are killed during the grouse season, and those 

 individuals which Mr Selby mentions as found on upland moors, 1 have 

 no doubt bred there. On the extensive moors at the Head of Dryfe (a 

 small rivulet in Dumfriesshire), I have, for many years past, met with 

 one or two pairs of these birds, and the accidental discovery of their 

 young first turned my attention to the range of their breeding ; for, pre- 

 A'ious to this, I also held the opinion, that they had commenced their 

 migration southward. The young was discovered by one of my dogs 

 pointing it ; and, on the following year, by searching at the proper 

 :l two nests were found with five eggs. They were formed upon 

 the ground among the heath ; the bottom of the nest scraped until the 

 fresh earth appeared, on which the eggs were placed, without any lining 

 or other accessory covering. When approaching the nest or young, the 

 old birds fly and hover round, uttering a shrill cry, and snapping with 

 their bills. They will then alight at a short distance, survey the aggres- 

 sor, and again resume their flight and cries. The young are barely able 

 to fly by the 12th of August, and appear to leave the nest some time 

 before they are able to rise from the ground. I have taken them, on 

 that great day to sportsmen, squatted on the heath like young black 

 game, at no great distance from each other, and always attended by the 

 parent birds. Last year (1831) I found them in their old haunts, to which 



