Northern Observations of Inland Birds 65 



I am not well acquainted with the little owl, which 

 was introduced not long ago by well-meaning persons 

 whose good intentions have unfortunately miscarried. It 

 is far and away the most destructive of the owl tribe, 

 as it hunts during all hours of the day, when its shrill, 

 squealing note can be heard from the tree tops. This 

 bird should be destroyed whenever possible. 



The great horned owl is the fiercest of northern birds. 

 It will attack and kill any bird or beast its own size. I 

 mention it in order to illustrate the curious fact that 

 even in countries where it does not exist, other birds 

 have an instinctive dread of it, and a very excellent 

 method of destroying vermin birds of all kinds is to 

 procure a stuffed horned owl so mounted that, by pulling 

 a string, it can be made to move its wings. The stuffed 

 bird is then placed out in the open, and the gunner, 

 string in hand, takes up a hiding near by. 



I have never tried this method, but am informed by a 

 French gentleman, who is a keen sportsman, that on his 

 estate (where the great horned owl is not indigenous) 

 he practises it annually as a means of keeping down 

 vermin. He assures me that magpies, crows, and even 

 hawks at once throng to the spot, and become so intent 

 upon mobbing the owl that they return repeatedly, even 

 in the face of gunfire. 



The fern owl or nightjar or churn owl is not, of course, 

 an owl at all, but is one of those unfortunate creatures 

 that possess a multitude of names, almost every one of 

 which is in this case misleading — for example, night- 

 hawk, goat-sucker, and so on. It is merely a glorified 

 night swallow, and is an entirely harmless and a very 

 interesting bird. 



At one time it was believed that the " goat-sucker " 

 was guilty of the act this name implies, and that the teat 

 of the goat that had been sucked nevermore gave milk. 



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