3 . 
Aslo w i 1 son i anus . 
Ball's Hill, Concord, Mass . 
1897. graceful it was not loss light and buoyant than that of the 
Short-eared Owl yet very rauch smoother and less erratic. 
Their wings also appeared broader and rounder than t&ose of 
A.ac cinitrinus . They reminded me strikingly of huge moths as 
they skimmed about just over the tree tops often turning back 
and going over the same ground again. They moved a great 
deal in circles of from twenty to thirty or forty yards in 
Nov. 17. 
diameter . 
Whether oiroling or following straighter courses ^ 
they both invariably progressed by alternate flapping and 
sailing, first giving eight or ten slow but strong wing beats 
and then gliding ten to twenty yards on set wings. I do not 
know any other species of Owl which habitually does this or 
which circles over the ground while hunting. 
Altogether I had these interesting and beautiful 
creatures within a few yards of me for at least ten minutes. 
At the end of this time they flew off into the tall pines on 
Bensen's ridge, one following the other rather closely. A 
moment or two later the male came back and circled about the 
little meadow and pond by the causeway following the line of 
trees closely. 
There can be no quest ion that these Owihs were of 
different sexes for one was fully a third larger than the other. 
They behaved, too, like mated birds but of course they may 
no 
