17
ON THE REPORTED BREEDING OF THE
SCOPS OWL IN ESSEX.
By MILLER CHRISTY.
[Read December 29th, 1888.]
Several months ago, in recording the specimen of the Scops owl
shot by Mr. Wm. C. Emson at Littlebury on June nth last (Essex
Naturalist, ii., p. 111), I quoted Mr. Emson's statements that the
specimen he obtained was one of a pair, and that a "neighbouring
farmer says they have nested two years in succession in a rabbit's
hole, about four miles from here, on the borders of Cambridgeshire,
but have disappeared this year." This species had previously been
reported as having bred near Oykel, in Sutherlandshire, and in
Castle Eden Dene, Durham, but there can be no doubt whatever
that these records are erroneous.
Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., having suggested to me the desirability of
making further enquiries in this particular case, I set to work to
obtain information with the following results :—
Having ascertained that the occurrence took place on land at
Heydon in the occupation of Mr, William Jonas, of Heydon Bury,
I wrote to that gentleman, who replied that, although he had not seen
them, two strange owls, supposed to have been Scops owls, had bred
in a larch plantation, known as "Heydon Hill Plantation," in 1886
and 1887. Ward, the gamekeeper, whose attention was first drawn to
them, communicated first with Mr. Joseph P. Nunn, of Royston, an
enthusiastic ornithologist, who decided that the birds must be Scops
owls, and offered Ward a strong inducement if he could find the nest
with eggs. This, however, Ward failed to do, but he found the
young birds after the eggs were hatched. Mr. Jonas several times
heard the birds at night, when thirty or forty yards from the planta-
tion; and on one occasion asked Ward what kind of bird it was that
was making such a noise in the plantation. Mr. Jonas describes
their note as a "peculiar noise—something like a child crying."
I next applied to Mr. Joseph P. Nunn, of Royston, who takes a
great interest in the birds of his district, Mr, Nunn at once replied
as follows, under date September 28th, 1888 :—
" In reply to your note referring to the Scops owl, I can only
give you the information as it was given to me by Ward, who was
the keeper on the Heydon estate. I believe he has left now. In
1885 [? 1886], he told me that he had seen two very small owls in
C