by one of niy dog’s pointing it; and the following year two nests, with five eggs, were found. They were 
upon the ground, among the heath, the bottom of the nest scrai)ed until the fresh earth appeared, on which 
the eggs were j)Iaced, without any lining or accessory covering. When approaching the nest or young, the 
old birds fiy and hover round, uttering a shrill cry, and snapping with their hills ; they will then alight at a 
short distance, survey the aggressor, and again resume their flight and cries. The young are barely able to 
fly by the 12th of August, and appear to leave the nest some time before they are able to rise from the ground. 
I have taken them, on that great day to sportsmen, squatted on the heath, like young black game, at no great 
distance from each other, and always attended by the parent birds : last year (1831) I found them in their 
old haunts, to which they appear to return very regularly.” That the bird breeds still further south in 
the British Islands is proved by tbe folloAving remarks of Mr. Stevenson, of Norwich: — “While planting 
and cultivation have induced the Long-eared Owl to become a regular denizen of this country, drainage and 
the enclosure of commons and waste lands have banished the Short-eared Owl from its former breeding- 
grounds. In the south-western parts of Norfolk, where fens are now almost entirely done away with, this 
species bred regularly ; and its nests were also taken occasionally in the vicinity of the coast. It still visits 
us regularly, and very numerously, in autumn.” Mr. F. Bond has taken several nests in Wicken and the 
adjoining fens near Burwell, in Cambridgeshire; but these fens are now drained. 
Mr. Wheelwright, who writes so interestingly in the ‘ Field ’ under the name of “ An Old Bushman,” 
says : — The Short-eared Owl is a summer migrant in Lapland, arriving towards the end of May, and during 
the whole season it is very common on the fells. It frequents exactly the same tracts as the Merlin, 
and, although perhaps more nocturnal than diurnal in its habits, is very often seen hawking over the 
fells in broad daylight. Its flight much resembles that of the Goatsucker. It is a very bold bird ; and I 
once saw a Short-eared Owl actually beat off a Golden Eagle from the vicinity of its nest. I have often 
been amused, while lying by my camp-fire on the fells at midnight, by watching the curious evolutions of 
this bird in the air, which greatly reminded me of those of the Common Lajnving. Its loud cry, “ Wau-wau,” 
much resembles the barking of a dog. We took one fresh nest. May 29.” 
Mr. Wollev, in a paper read at the Meeting of Scandinavian Naturalists, at Christiania, in 1856, mentions 
that “This bird has a singular habit, when in fear for its nest, of suddenly casting itself down on the ground, 
in a place where it is hidden from the sight of the passer-by, and there wailing like a woman in fright or 
danger.” This fact, he adds, has no doubt given rise to a story which he had heard among some of the 
Lapps, relating to a supernatural bird, which they say sometimes makes a visit to their encampments, darting 
down upon a spot whence a tent has lately been removed, seizing a fragment of skin or fur from the dress of 
one of the family, and flying away with it. “ Presently it returns and again darts down, but this time on 
the spot where the owner of the fragment will be buried. There it cries and moans like one in the agonies 
of death, and just as that person whose fate is thus indicated will, at his or her end, wail and moan.” 
Mr. Alfred Newton informs me that, during the first week in August 1854, his brother Edward and 
himself, when riding over a heath at Elveden, disturbed a Short-eared Owl, which made a great outcry, 
rising high into the air, and then dashing down with a piercing scream. “ We proceeded to search, and 
soon came upon a half-fledged young one, sheltered in the heather, by the side of which a freshly-killed rat 
had been deposited. A day or two after, we found that, notwithstanding the anxiety shown by the parent 
bird, this young one had been abandoned by it since our visit, and was dead. We, however, discovered 
another of the brood close by ; but this too was in like manner deserted, though we had been careful not 
so much as to touch it. Not wishing to cause the deaths of the remainder of the family ; for there were 
doubtless some more hidden in the heather, we made no further search ; and though the jealous temper of 
the old bird hardly deserved to be rewarded, I trust the rest of the brood attained to maturity. The 
Owlets we found had probably strayed to a eonsiderable distance from the nest ; for we looked over the 
ground so carefully that, had it been near at hand, it could not have escaped us.” 
Mr, Jerdon considers it probable that this is the Owl that is not unfrequently hawked at by falconers in 
the North-western provinces of India ; and in confirmation of this view, Mr. M^olf informs me that he once 
released a Short-eared Owl from a springe, which, on flying away, was pounced upon by a Goshawk that 
had been secretly sitting on a neighbouring tree, and carried it off in its talons. 
The buff}’ tint of the breast varies from yellowish red to light buff and yelloAvish Avhite. In some specimens 
the longitudinal stripes on the centre of the breast and flank-feathers are very narrow, in others broad. 
When fully adidt, the eolours of the two sexes assimilate very closely ; and the young, from their first 
assumption of feathers after the downy state, partake of the colouring of the adult. 
The Plate represents the bird, Avith its nest and eggs, of the natural size. 
