ee a agg eth ar 
SNOWY OWL 123 
last’ (1862), ‘and as I thought that they might possibly breed 
there, we hunted it well with a couple of setters about a 
month ago’ (letter dated 19th July), ‘and I also myself on 
several occasions lately walked through it, but the birds 
were not there... . I believe that the only Owl that breeds 
here is the Long-eared Owl.’ 1 
I have been told that in 1884 (1st June) four eggs were 
found on the ground in the uplands near Injebreck, ‘in a 
hollow without any nest.’ One of the eggs so discovered is 
in my possession, but I am not aware that specimens can 
be distinguished from those of the last species, and the 
authority for the find was not very reliable. The breeding 
of the species in Man, however, would not be unlikely, and 
seems to be pretty well settled by the testimony of the 
forester at South Barrule, who on two occasions in late 
years found Owls’ nests, with eggs, on the ground, in open 
gorsy spots amid the young plantations under his charge, 
and knew of a similar nest at Greeba. Nevertheless, 
instances of the nesting of the Long-eared Owl on the 
ground are not unknown in Britain. 
In north-western England and Galloway the Short- 
eared Owl breeds sparingly, but has not been known to do 
so in Ireland, though it appears there somewhat irregularly 
in winter, as over the whole of Britain. Messrs. Coward 
and Oldham found it nesting in Anglesea. It nests in all 
the outer groups of Scottish islands. 
NYCTEA SCANDIACA (Linn.). SNOWY OWL. 
Mr. Kermode records a specimen, still in the collection at 
Orrisdale, shot many years ago by the late Dr. Crellin* 
1 Mr. Crellin tells me it was obtained on the rabbit-warren near the house. 
