have more than once seen a dozen or more during a 

 day's shooting. 



The Short-eared Owl is a very powerful flyer, and, as 

 he often hunts not only by daylight, but in bright sunny 

 weather, it is evident that his vision is better adapted 

 for diurnal operations than is the case with our other 

 British Owls. The nest of this bird when situated on 

 dry heath-lands is merely a scraping of the earth, but in 

 the fens the eggs are often laid upon a few pieces of 

 broken reed-stems, with occasionally a few leaves of that 

 plant, or blades of broad sedge ; the eggs are pure white, 

 and vary in number from four to six. This is one of 

 the most useful of birds, as its favourite prey are the 

 noxious voles that infest our low-lying lands. 



