BRADSHAW—ON IRISH BIRDS. lio 
The Long-eared Owl (Bubo Strix).—In the month of June of the 
year 1866 I was standing one evening on the bank of a pond, watching 
the trout rising to the evening flies, at about nine o’clock, when my 
attention was attracted by the movements of a long-eared owl flying 
about over the water at various distances from its surface, stopping 
occasionally in its flight for a second, and disappearing immediately 
after in the direction of some ivy-covered trees. Having seen this 
proceeding repeated three or four times, I lay down on the ground, to 
get the owl between me and the hght on its next appearance. It came 
back again in a moment or two, and, by watching very closely, I saw 
it fly at a bat, stop over it in the same manner as before, and imme- 
diately the bat disappeared. The owl then went off in the same direc- 
tion as before. This was repeated six or seven times, and once or 
twice I could see the bat caught very distinctly, the bird using its 
claws for the purpose. It then got too dark to see any more. I was 
aided in watching the bird by the light of a western sky behind it. I 
am inclined to think that the bird had a nest in the trees, and was 
feeding its young on the bats. It certainly could have caught nothing 
else over the pond, as the small birds were gone to roost long before, 
and the birds returned periodically after each bat was caught. 
The Kingfisher (Alcedo Halcyon).—I have remarked a curious cir- 
cumstance about the kingfisher. When sitting on a branch watching 
for fish it has its head drawn back upon its shoulders, but every five or 
six seconds, with the most perfect agility, it projects its head and neck 
forwards alternately, giving it half a turn to each side, and letting it 
fall back again on the shoulders after each movement. It has a most 
grotesque appearance, the long bill and large head looking too heavy 
for the almost tailless body, and that the bird required to rest it after 
the exertion of looking about. The real use may have been that the 
bird has a habit of using each eye alternately to examine the water. 
I have frequently seen it, as the birds are numerous about the place, 
and I have seen them out of my garden, which overhangs the river, 
being sometimes not more than two yards from the bird, for three or 
four minutes at a time; they also have nested in the bank of the 
garden, most regularly every year, and I have seen them feeding the 
young, when they had left the nest. I opened a nest on the 9th of 
May, 1865. It was situated in the bank of a wide drain, leading into 
the main river, and about three hundred yards from it; the entrance 
was about one foot from the surface of the ground, and the mouth of 
it nearly eight inches in circumference. It sloped gradually upwards 
towards the surface, was two feet in length, and enlarged into the 
shape of a globe at the end where the nest lay. I measured the length 
of the hole with a thin piece of wood, and took the same length on the 
outside, cut down about six inches beyond the measure, having pre- 
viously filled the extremity of the passage with cotton wadding to 
protect the eggs. On getting into it from behind, I came upon the 
cotton, and, removing it, J had in view the nest, and on it four young 
birds just out of the shell, and two eggs nearly hatched, of a pearly 
