Identifier: picturesofbirdli00lodg (find matches)
Title: Pictures of bird life : on woodland meadow, mountain and marsh
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Lodge, R. B
Subjects: Birds -- Pictorial works
Publisher: London : S. H. Bousfield
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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gue of voles, then these Owls, witli the wonderfulinstinct of most birds in discovering any unusual abundanceof food, tiock to the affected spot in great numbers, andremain there as long as the supply of food is sufficientfor them, when they disappear as mysteriously as theyarrived. The so-called ears of tlie Short-eared Owl and theLong-eared Owl are, of course, not ears at all. beingmerely tufts of feathers, in no way connected with tlieorgan of hearing. The true ear is an immense and com-plicated cavity, occupying nearly the whole side of tliehead, and concealed by the short feathers of the facial disk.The illustration shows the ear-cavity of a Short-eared Owl,taken, of course, from a dead specimen. By lifting up themovable mask, or facial disk, and pinning it back, thelarge extent of the true organs of hearing may be plainlyseen. This bird is a particularly silent one. Beyond ahissing and a clapping or snapping of the beak, it appearsto make no sound whatever. The Norfolk Broads 2W
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Large numbersof tliese Owls aretaken in the fliglit-nets of the Lin-eohishire and Nor-folk coasts on theirarrival in thiscountry. I oncesaw one come overin the early morn-ing mobbed by alot of Rooks. The hr-woodsare inhabited bythe Long-earedOwl, which nestsvery early in theyear in old squir-rels nests andWood - pigeonsnests — sometimese ^^ e n o n theground, but this isexceptional. Daily we sawa Shoveller-duck,which must havebeen breeding LONG-EARED Owl (As!u uf/lSK 220 Pictures of Bird Life somewhere not far from our anchorage : but no amount ofsearching enabled us to disco^er its nest. Every morningand evening we could see a Great Crested Grebe, accom-panied by its single young one, and many a time watcliedthe mother Grebe ))ring up a small eel. and, after bangingand shaking it about, present it to the young bird. In these days of extermination, it is a relief to turn toone bird whicli is increasing in numbers and extending its range, asseems reallyto be thecase withthe CxreatC r

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