﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  results, 
  as 
  either 
  all 
  owls 
  are 
  classed 
  as 
  1 
  oolets 
  'j 
  or, 
  as 
  we 
  are 
  glad 
  

   to 
  find, 
  owls 
  are 
  not 
  considered 
  always 
  as 
  vermin, 
  except 
  by 
  

   prejudiced 
  gamekeepers 
  who 
  have 
  seen 
  them 
  at 
  times 
  take 
  a 
  young 
  

   pheasant 
  at 
  the 
  coops, 
  and 
  therefore 
  wage 
  war 
  against 
  them. 
  

   Verily, 
  there 
  are 
  more 
  things 
  patent 
  to 
  the 
  eye 
  of 
  sense 
  than 
  

   are 
  dreamt 
  of 
  in 
  their 
  philosophy. 
  Merlins 
  have 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  

   chase 
  a 
  sparrow-hawk 
  which 
  had 
  a 
  small 
  bird 
  in 
  its 
  claws, 
  so 
  even 
  

   the 
  wise 
  men 
  of 
  old 
  who 
  first 
  uttered 
  the 
  Scotch 
  proverb 
  — 
  1 
  Hawks 
  

   dinna 
  pike 
  oot 
  hawks' 
  een 
  ' 
  — 
  were 
  not 
  on 
  perfectly 
  reliable 
  ground. 
  

  

  Asio 
  accipitrinus 
  (Pali). 
  Short-eared 
  Owl. 
  

  

  Rare 
  as 
  a 
  breeding 
  species, 
  if 
  indeed 
  it 
  does 
  now 
  breed 
  anywhere 
  

   within 
  our 
  present 
  area, 
  but 
  is 
  commoner 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  on 
  

   migration, 
  throughout 
  the 
  low 
  grounds 
  of 
  Morayshire 
  and 
  Nairn- 
  

   shire. 
  The 
  bird 
  is 
  only 
  seen 
  sparingly 
  at 
  Invergarry. 
  Mr. 
  

   Jennings 
  remarks 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  common 
  and 
  resident 
  in 
  the 
  neighbour- 
  

   hood 
  of 
  Tain, 
  but 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  firth 
  we 
  have 
  only 
  

   heard 
  of 
  one 
  instance 
  of 
  its 
  breeding 
  in 
  our 
  area 
  (Fauna 
  of 
  Suther- 
  

   land 
  and 
  Caithness, 
  p. 
  160). 
  

  

  Rare 
  and 
  only 
  occasional 
  occurrences 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  are 
  given 
  

   amongst 
  our 
  earlier 
  records. 
  One 
  was 
  shot 
  between 
  Elgin 
  and 
  the 
  

   Marnoch 
  Hill 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1836, 
  as 
  recorded 
  by 
  Foljambe 
  in 
  the 
  

   Fauna 
  of 
  Moray. 
  

  

  Brown 
  of 
  Forres 
  describes 
  it 
  as 
  'common, 
  but 
  not 
  abundant, 
  

   arriving 
  here 
  in 
  October 
  from 
  the 
  north. 
  In 
  winter 
  it 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  

   turnip 
  fields,' 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  hedges 
  and 
  brooks. 
  It 
  is 
  absent 
  

   in 
  May. 
  

  

  Syrnium 
  aluco 
  (L.). 
  Tawny 
  Owl. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  correspondents 
  this 
  is 
  quite 
  the 
  commonest 
  

   owl 
  in 
  the 
  Moray 
  area, 
  and 
  we 
  have 
  notices 
  of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  from 
  

   nearly 
  every 
  place 
  within 
  our 
  limits, 
  and 
  the 
  records 
  go 
  back, 
  at 
  

   least 
  as 
  regards 
  the 
  Spey 
  district, 
  nearly 
  to 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  

   century, 
  when 
  they 
  bred 
  commonly 
  about 
  Ballindalloch. 
  Of 
  the 
  

   two 
  varieties, 
  the 
  red 
  and 
  the 
  grey, 
  the 
  latter 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  

   commoner 
  in 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  Scotland. 
  

  

  Although 
  this 
  bird 
  was 
  unknown 
  in 
  the 
  north-east 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  

   forty 
  or 
  fifty 
  years 
  ago 
  (Macleay), 
  it 
  now 
  breeds 
  regularly 
  about 
  

  

  