276 



PiUicock : The Ih'rds of Xor/h-uh's/ Liiidscw 



only known to few workers. Sir Charles Anderson records a 

 3''0ung Cnckoo shot in Lea in October. I have only known them 

 late in Se}:)tember, and I have given this species especial study. 



Barn Owl. — Is common or only fairly common according 

 as it is persecuted. It nests with us each season. There are 

 numbers in Cadney Church. Mr. Young says, ' Rather local, 

 and not common about Claxby.' I have examined numbers 

 of pellets of this species, and have never known it to take game, 

 though rabbits that can just run are sometimes taken, but very 

 rareh'. This seems only to be the case when they abound 

 near villages, and close to stackyards. 



LoxG-EARED OwL. — This is thinly but widely scattered 

 all over the district. On 4th of March 1889, I found a half- 

 eaten viper in a nest in Cole's Plantation. I had no idea 

 vipers were about at that time of year, even in the mildest 

 weather. This bird will very rarely take young pheasants 

 from their roosting trees, for it has been shot in the act ; but 

 I have never seen any signs of game, except young rabbits, 

 in its castings. 



Short-eared Owl. — This is our Woodcock Owl. It used 

 to breed on our commons. The only time I ever found it, the 

 nest was in rough grass in the open part of Cole's Plantation. 

 The notes I have received on this species are not of the least 

 value. It is common enough on migration in the autumn 

 months, in rough grass and root crops. There was a ' flock ' 

 at Nettleton, 14th of December 1898. The Vicar and I had 

 once six on the wing together on Cadney Beck Bank in Nov- 

 ember 1896. We judged — for moving on in front of us, as 

 they frequently did, it was impossible to say for certain— there 

 were between thirty and forty birds in this ' flock.' A passing 

 flight of rooks mobbed one of the birds when on the wing, and 

 chased it out of sight into Hibaldstow parish. It is said to 

 have bred not so long ago on Scotton Common, and in Holton 

 and Nettleton on moory ground. I have no exact information. 



Tawny Owl. — This, along with the Long-eared Owl, is 

 called the Brown Owl, much to the confusion of the notes 

 received from my friends. I have no doubt it is the commonest 

 owl in North-west Lindsey. It is certainly the largest and most 

 powerful, and I believe it is the species most frequently given 

 to taking game birds. It is a personal depravity, not a racial 

 characteristic, most certainly. I do not think we have many 

 small w^oods without it, as it is a most adaptable species in 



Naturalist, 



