THE SHORT-EARED OWL. 



Asio accipitrinus (Pallas). 

 Plate 26. 



Avoiding woodlands, this species is much more a bird of the open than the 

 other British Owls, frequenting stubble and turnip-fields, moors, furze-covered 

 slopes, and marsh-lands. It breeds regularly in many places in Great Britain, 

 but much less frequently to the south of Lancashire and Yorkshire than in the 

 north, while in Ireland it never nests. In all three countries it is not uncommon 

 as a bird of passage from autumn to spring, and as numbers often arrive from 

 oversea at the same time as the Woodcocks, it is sometimes called the Woodcock- 

 Owl. It is widely distributed over both hemispheres, inhabiting Europe, Asia, 

 Africa, and America. 



The Short-eared Owl breeds late in the year, laying its creamy-white eggs in 

 a slight cavity among sedges or heather. They usually number from four to 

 eight, occasionally amounting to ten or twelve. It is well known that under the 

 stimulus of an abundant food supply the number of eggs laid is largely increased. 

 The young ramble a considerable distance from the nest before they are fully 

 fledged. 



The food consists largely of voles, field-mice, rats, small birds, occasionally 

 of fish, bats, beetles, and large moths. During the periodical vole plagues, Short- 

 eared Owls flock to the infested districts, and remain as long as food continues 

 plentiful. They may frequently be seen hunting during daytime with a buoyant 

 unsteady flight, and do not seem inconvenienced by bright sunlight. 



The note of this Owl when disturbed is somewhat similar to that of the Long- 

 eared species. 



Mr. R. J. Howard tells me that "when stooping down to examine a full- 

 fledged young Short-eared Owl — one of a nest containing seven young and an 

 addled egg — a parent bird struck him a resounding smack on the head, leaving 

 marks of the claws on his hat. The following season at this spot, a bird, presumably 

 the same, struck his claws into the nape of the neck of the gamekeeper, covering 

 his collar with blood. On this Lancashire moor, which has been planted by the 

 Liverpool , Corporation, all Owls and Kestrels are strictly preserved for the 

 purpose of keeping down the voles and field-mice, which do great damage to 

 the young forest trees. A large handful of castings taken here on the 24th May 

 consisted altogether of the remains of Short-tailed Voles and one Shrew. There 

 were no remains of birds. Four pairs of Short-eared Owls reared broods on this 

 moor in each of the seasons mentioned above." 



The sexes are alike in colour. 



36 



