180 HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE SHORT-TAILED FIELD VOLE
of these small owls had previously been observed in the forest [New
Forest], but in the space of a few months several were seen, and
were considered to be the most destructive of any of the winged
enemies of the mice. It was stated in a letter from a gentleman
residing in the forest, that under the roost of one of these owls, in an
enclosure called Birchwood, there were at least fifty mice, which had
passed through the owl whole. This assertion was repeated in some
subsequent correspondence, though it is probable that the pellets
which owls cast up were mistaken for mice......One owl had
so gorged himself that he was secured by one of the keepers."
The Short-eared Owl has a wider geographical range than any
other species, but has almost, if not entirely, ceased to breed in our
eastern counties. Large numbers arrive here in certain seasons
from the Continent, mostly with the woodcock in autumn, hence
the name of "Woodcock Owl." It is also known as the "Mouse
Owl" or "Mouse Hawk." In October, 1879, this species arrived
on the east coast of England in very considerable numbers. "The
great rush took place on night of October 18th or morning of
19th, the Woodcock arriving at the same time with a north wind."5
It was so abundant in 1879 on Burnham and Southminster
marshes, that a friend of mine relates how one afternoon he shot
ten or a dozen out of one marsh ditch—a mistaken policy no
doubt, but he was young, and I suppose could not resist this temp-
tation in October, when probably partridges were scarce and wild.
It was also common in Essex in the autumn of 1876, and is said
to have been unusually abundant in the neighbourhood of Sudbury
in 1881.6 In the Migration Report for that year we read, "Short-
eared Owls, Golden Crested Wrens, and Woodcocks, arrive with
great punctuality during the first fortnight in October, and are in-
variably associated in their migration—that is, coming at the same
time."7
The Short-tailed Vole is said to prefer moist situations, but it is
equally a pest on the hill-farms of the north, and in our own grass
marshes, hence, probably, the attraction for the Owl, which seems to
be peculiarly an inhabitant of the open country, and is apparently
more abundant in wet seasons.
The following local historical references will, doubtless, be read
5 John Cordeaux in "Report on the Migration of Birds in the spring and autumn of 1880,"
P. 33.
6 Churchill Babinaton's "Catalogue of the Birds of Suffolk," p. 42. 
7 John Cordeaux in "Report on the Migration of Birds in Spring and Autumn of 1881,
p. 40.