148 
The Scottish Naturalist. 
Long-Eared Owl {Asio otus). Not uncommon in Scotch fir 
woods, and generally distributed in small numbers where these 
are to be found, as on the banks of the Jed and at Lauder. It is 
decidedly less common in our inland parts than it is nearer the 
east coast. The end of March and the beginning of April are the 
usual times for laying, but 1 have known nests with fresh eggs as 
late as the middle of May. 
Short-Eared Owl {Asio accipitrinus). This owl having been 
known to breed as near as the Dumfries-shire hills, and having 
certainly also done so in one place on the English side of the 
Cheviots, should have been found nesting also in the wilder parts 
of the county of Roxburgh ; but I am unable to trace any account 
of its nidification nearer than Lauder, where two or three nests 
have been found in the month of June. Of course, in autumn, 
great numbers of migrants visit the coast and sometimes reach 
farther inland, and in the winter of 1875-1876, and again in that 
of 1 876-187 7, the flocks were very large. 
Tawny Owl {Syrmu?ji aluco). The common owl of the dis- 
trict, frequenting all the thick woods, especially those in the valleys 
of the Tweed and Teviot, and in Peeblesshire. While not rare 
even at the very base of the Cheviots, it gives way to some 
extent to the last species where the country becomes bare and 
the woods are rather of firs than of deciduous trees. The eggs 
are found in old crows' or magpies' nests, as well as in hollow 
trees, and are laid in March, if not earlier. 
Tengmalm's Owl {Nyctale tengmalmi). Occasionally shot 
in the neighbourhood in spring, as on Feb. 4th, 1873, at Berwick- 
on-Tweed, and in 1861 near Embleton. 
Marsh Harrier {Circus cerugimsus). A permanent resident 
in former times, according to Selby {Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, i., p. 
256), though it has long disappeared from the Border, nor have I 
been able to find a recent instance of an example being procured. 
Hen Harrier {Circus cyaneus). This species, which is now 
only a rare and occasional visitor, is mentioned by Selby {Hist. 
Ber. Nat. Club^ i., p. 256) as a permanent resident in 1841, and 
for many years afterwards — probably until 1859 — continued to 
breed in some numbers on the higher heaths of the Lauderdale 
hills ; while other nesting sites were tenanted in Berwickshire, 
Northumberland, Selkirkshire, and doubtless Peeblesshire. On the 
Cheviots examples were often observed in summer until a still later 
