for they heard the dying moans. I went out to listen, and I certainly felt puzzled as to what animal produced the sound. At first I thought that some of the cattle might be choking from becoming entangled in the neck-chains, but on going to the cattle-house I found everything quite still and quiet, and the moans coming from the trees, showed that it was some bird; but as I had never read any description of the cry of the male Long-eared Owl in the breeding season, I could not imagine what bird it was. However, the night being moonlight I followed the sound, and when I got near the tree I saw a dark bird glide silently away, giving a slight flap of its wings when just leaving its perch, the noise made by the flap being scarcely audible. I thus followed the bird about the place for over an hour, but could never see it in the act of calling, as the only sight I could get of it was on its leaving one tree for another when disturbed; so I had to return without being satisfied as to its identity, though at the same time I was quite confident it was same kind of owl. For several nights I followed the bird with my gun, but was unsuccessful in obtaining a shot at it, though after a time I began to be almost certain that it was the Long-eared Owl; but, of course, unless I shot the bird or distinctly saw it in the act of calling, I could not be certain of its identity. This tantalizing state of things continued until the succeeding month of March, when one evening I was riding home from Ballina, and just before dark, as I was passing a grove, I heard the call from some trees close to the road. I immediately stopped, and closely watching the trees in a few moments had the satisfaction of seeing a fine Long-eared Owl sitting on the branch of a larch tree in the very act of "moaning"; and about a month later I had a good view of another, close to the house here, also calling. The young when half fledged, before they leave the nest, and for several weeks after they leave it, may be heard calling incessantly for food, and their loud plaintive cries readily attract attention to their retreat. The female has a very queer yelping kind of alarm-note when the young are approached, quite different from the moaning of the male bird or the cry of the young.
Short-eared Owl, Strix brachyotus.—A regular winter visitor to the heaths and low grounds, and is sometimes found in small flocks by snipe-shooters.
White Owl, Strix flammea.—Resident and common in the numerous old ruins throughout the country.
