Page:The Natural History of Ireland vol1.djvu/111

 its nests ; which, in consequence of the trees being young, were placed not higher than six feet from the ground. Two nests in Hillsborough Park, in the summer of 1848, were placed about twenty feet from the ground in dense silver firs of double that height. One of them, which was robbed about the 10th of June, coutained three young (perhaps twelve days out) and an addled egg. The other nest at the same date contained four eggs. The first garb of the owlets is white down, but like that of the kestrel, when viewed en masse, of a light sandy-coloured tinge; their irides are yellow, of a lighter tint than in old birds. Their larder consisted at the early hour of five o'clock in the morning, when they were carried off, of three old sparrows, two of which were males. About Youghal, it builds "in ruined magpie's nests." * Mr. Poole mentions, that to a deserted magpie's nest which came under his notice, when appropriated by a pair of these owls, no addition was made, excepting a few soft feathers from the owl itself. The nest contained eggs on the 14th of March, and beside them lay a dead field-mouse. Another nest, examined by him, contained four owlets, two of which were so much larger then the others, as scarcely to appear to belong to the same brood. There were no castings under the tree in which this brood was brought up. The long-eared owl is com- mon in Tipperary f and Kerry ; J and is noticed as inhabiting chiefly fir plantations, in the former county. With respect to food, the stomachs of three winch I have noted, contained : — One, a sparrow almost whole ; the second, portions of a large coleopterous insect; the third, the remains of three buntings. The stomach of a long-eared owl, shot at Killaloe, contained "part of a rat, the skull of a mouse, and the heads of two sparrows."

Dr. J.D. Marshall, of Belfast, informs me, that for five or six years, when he lived in High-street, opposite St. George's Church, he kept long and short-eared owls (S. otus and S. brachyotus) instead of cats, and found them to be much more effective killers of rats and mice. Their patience was extraordinary. At the entrance to one rat-hole, which happened frequently to come under

Mr. R. Ball.

f Mr. R. Davis.

% Mr. Neligan.