Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/505

Rh baited a trap with the quarry, and the next morning the Hawk was found in the trap. It was one of the finest female Peregrine Falcons that I have seen.— (Ringwood).

Hoopoe near Wick.—An adult male Hoopoe (Upupa epops) was shot on the moor near Wick last August, and is now in my collection.— (23, Abercromby Square, Liverpool).

The Long-eared Owl (Asio otus).—Has it been observed that this handsome species of Owl was commoner than usual during the past summer? In the valley of the Avon it seems to have bred in some numbers, as I saw them in all stages of growth, and especially in the latter half of June and through July, when the majority were almost fully feathered, but the "horns" not entirely developed. In this stage the thing that struck me most was the beautifully varied tints of plumage, especially about the facial disk; no two seemed exactly alike, and one presented a particularly grotesque appearance—around the eyes and underneath the beak was almost entirely black, whilst the margins of the disk seemed whiter than usual, which "threw up" the inky black tips in a remarkable manner. A large number of these Owls must have been killed, as the gamekeeping community aver they come to the coops and carry off their young birds, and no amount of reasoning will convince them that mice and their kin more than young Pheasants are sought after by the Owls. The coops are usually closed when the soft-plumaged, silent Owl is on the wing, and the marauding rodents, in their nocturnal rambles, come for the scattered grain or other food, or even to purloin a chick; but because the Owl is seen in the vicinity he is ruthlessly slaughtered, when in fact he is more guardian than culprit.— (Ringwood).

Plumage of Montagu's Harrier.—I should be greatly obliged if anyone having a sexed example of the young female Montagu's Harrier (Circus cineraceus) would tell me if it is marked on the under parts with longitudinal markings or streaks. Yarrell says that young females have the under parts unmarked (like young males); but it seems to me curious that the young birds should be unmarked on the under parts in all cases while the adults are strongly (and heavily in some cases) marked. The tendency in birds of prey is for markings on the under parts to become small, or to disappear, with increasing age of the individual. In the volume for 1901 (p. 476) I recorded the occurrence of a young Montagu's Harrier (not sexed, but believed by me to be a female) in Northamptonshire. In identifying this specimen as Montagu's Harrier, I relied on the shape of the fifth primary (vide Mr. Howard