﻿40 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  exhibited 
  at 
  a 
  meeting 
  of 
  our 
  Society' 
  (Huntly 
  Field 
  Naturalists' 
  

   Club). 
  

  

  Asio 
  otus 
  (L.). 
  Long-eared 
  Owl. 
  

  

  Generally 
  distributed 
  throughout 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  our 
  area, 
  wherever 
  

   the 
  woods 
  afford 
  it 
  sufficient 
  shelter 
  ; 
  commoner 
  in 
  the 
  low 
  country 
  

   about 
  Nairnshire 
  and 
  Morayshire. 
  Building 
  as 
  it 
  does 
  in 
  trees, 
  

   especially 
  firs, 
  and 
  utilising 
  the 
  nests 
  of 
  other 
  birds, 
  it 
  must 
  spread 
  

   rapidly 
  as 
  the 
  present 
  plantations 
  grow 
  up, 
  even 
  as 
  high 
  up 
  the 
  

   country 
  as 
  Newtonmore, 
  from 
  which 
  place 
  specimens 
  have 
  been 
  

   sent 
  in 
  to 
  Inverness 
  for 
  preservation. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  

   Glengarry 
  district. 
  

  

  In 
  St. 
  John's 
  time 
  the 
  Long-eared 
  Owl 
  was 
  considered 
  the 
  

   commonest 
  of 
  Owls 
  by 
  him, 
  breeding 
  in 
  old 
  crows' 
  nests 
  in 
  fir- 
  

   trees. 
  

  

  If 
  unmolested, 
  Owls 
  will 
  live 
  very 
  near 
  a 
  house. 
  At 
  Baden- 
  

   loch 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  very 
  small 
  plantation 
  just 
  round 
  the 
  house, 
  per- 
  

   haps 
  an 
  eighth 
  of 
  an 
  acre 
  in 
  size, 
  and 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  took 
  up 
  

   their 
  abode, 
  and 
  were 
  often 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  evening. 
  Of 
  course 
  the 
  

   keepers 
  were 
  not 
  allowed 
  to 
  interfere 
  with 
  them. 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Moray 
  Dr. 
  Gordon 
  designates 
  the 
  Long-eared 
  

   Owl, 
  even 
  at 
  that 
  date, 
  as 
  ' 
  by 
  far 
  the 
  most 
  abundant 
  of 
  the 
  owl 
  

   tribe 
  in 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  Scotland.' 
  Brown 
  of 
  Forres, 
  however, 
  seems 
  

   to 
  place 
  the 
  Tawny 
  Owl 
  first 
  in 
  value 
  as 
  regards 
  numbers, 
  and 
  

   describes 
  the 
  present 
  species 
  'as 
  common, 
  but 
  not 
  abundant,' 
  

   and 
  occurring 
  in 
  the 
  wooded 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  districts 
  around 
  Forres. 
  

   Edward 
  says 
  it 
  is 
  ' 
  plentiful 
  ; 
  the 
  most 
  common 
  of 
  all 
  our 
  owls.' 
  

   Dr. 
  J. 
  0. 
  Wilson 
  considers 
  it 
  'plentiful.' 
  We 
  have 
  observed 
  it 
  

   around 
  Eothiemay, 
  and 
  Major 
  Playne 
  Smith, 
  lessee 
  of 
  Avochie, 
  

   has 
  had 
  both 
  this 
  and 
  the 
  Tawny 
  Owl 
  in 
  captivity. 
  The 
  late 
  

   Mr. 
  Templeton, 
  1 
  gamekeeper 
  for 
  upwards 
  of 
  fifty 
  years 
  upon 
  the 
  

   Countess 
  of 
  Seafield's 
  estates, 
  had 
  Long-eared 
  Owls 
  in 
  confine- 
  

   ment 
  at 
  Castle 
  Grant, 
  which 
  we 
  saw, 
  along 
  with 
  a 
  tame 
  eagle 
  and 
  

   a 
  tame 
  trout, 
  in 
  May 
  1892. 
  

  

  Other 
  correspondents 
  consider 
  the 
  Long-eared 
  Owls 
  as 
  the 
  

   commoner, 
  and 
  vermin 
  lists 
  do 
  not 
  assist 
  us 
  at 
  arriving 
  at 
  definite 
  

  

  1 
  Templeton 
  died 
  in 
  June 
  1892 
  not 
  very 
  long 
  after 
  Harvie-Brown 
  paid 
  him 
  a 
  

   visit 
  and 
  saw 
  his 
  pets. 
  

  

  