V O tu ^FF Jnr.^-)
SHORT-EARED OWL.
ASIO BRACHYOTUS {Forster).
Strix brachyotos, Forster, Phil. Trans, lxii. p. 384 (1772).
Strix brachyotis, Naum. i. p. 459.
Asio brachyotus, Macg. iii. p. 461.
Otos brachyotos, Hewitson, i. p. 58.
Asio accipitrinus, Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 163; Dresser, v. p. 257.
Hibou brachyote, French; Sumpf-Ohreule, kurzohrige
Eule, German; Carabo, Lechuza campestre, Spanish.
The Short-eared Owl is most generally known in
England as an autumnal migrant; but a few pairs still
breed in certain fens and moorlands in our country,
which, in the interest of the bird, I refrain from specifying
; in certain parts of Scotland and its adjacent
islands it nests pretty commonly, and is very frequently
met with in Ireland in winter. . The habits of this Owl
differ from those of almost all the other species of its
family in the fact that the present bird is eminently
terrestrial, seldom alighting on trees, and preferring open
country with covert of heath, fern, or sedge. We often
meet with this Owl in turnip-fields or rough pasture-
lands in the midlands towards the end of October,
sometimes in considerable numbers, but, as a rule, singly
or in couples; in West Norfolk, at the same season, I