56 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



these occasions, I have noticed barn owls winnowing up 

 and down the river edge, undoubtedly in search of fish. 

 I have never seen one strike a fish, but I have heard 

 disturbances which seemed to suggest it. 



Again, near to my home was a small spawning brook 

 into which thousands of adult trout passed at the back 

 end of the season, and I observed that, immediately the 

 trout began to run, barn owls and village cats took to 

 frequenting the banks of the burn. Of course, I do not 

 infer that the tawny owl does not fish ; I merely state 

 that according to my own observations, barn owls are more 

 given to the habit, though, but for personal observance, 

 I would have suspected it to be characteristic of the 

 tawny. 



A good deal has been written on the harmlessness of 

 the tawny owl, its service to man, and so on, but though 

 I rejoice to hear its melancholy note, though I am as 

 loath as any other lover of outdoor things to encourage the 

 destruction of any one of our wild kindred, I must say 

 that during my studies in the North of England and in 

 Scotland of the tawny owl I have not come across any 

 outstanding example of its usefulness beyond the killing 

 of rats, whereas I have personally witnessed numberless 

 cases of its destructiveness among song birds, and heard 

 much concerning its destructiveness to young game birds. 

 The demands of its young are very great, and I believe 

 that a pair of tawny owls will clear up a whole brood of 

 domestic chickens or of pheasant chicks in a single after- 

 noon. Gilbert White states that barn owls return with 

 food for their young every five minutes ; at this rate 

 it would not take the equally ravenous tawny owl very 

 long to exterminate a brood of chicks, so easily located 

 and caught. So far as I can make out, and this statement 

 is backed by such practical sportsmen as Mr. Aikman 

 Smith of Edinburgh and Mr. Shepley Shepley of New 



