TAWNY OWL. 297 



00^ 00, and a long quavering and beautiful 00-00-00-00. The 

 note may be startling, even weird, when heard in the night, but 

 it is certainly musical. The hoot of the young, heard in late 

 summer or early autumn, is similar but more hissing ; a captive 

 bird began to hoot at the end of July, prior to that it had made 

 no sound except a chirrup and click of its bealj when I fed it. 

 Tawny Ov/ls call frequently throughout the autumn and winter, 

 even during hard and frosty weather, not only in the woods, 

 but when on the nightly round for food. From the young I 

 have heard the only call which resembles tu-wit, a shrill sharp 

 note quite distinct from the flight call, ki-wik^ ki-wak, which 

 is shared by old and young. This is a hunger call and also a 

 cry of anger ; I have heard a bird call kivak when dashing at 

 the head of a boy who was handling its young. Occasionally 

 the bird hoots in the daytime. 



The Tawny Owl, except when feeding young, seldom goes 

 abroad in daylight, and when it does it is usually accompanied 

 by all the smaller birds in the neighbourhood ; the alarm notes 

 of any species seem to be recognised and call together all and 

 sundry to mob the common foe. Jackdaws and Starlings join 

 with Redbreasts, Chaffinches, Tits and Wrens to hustle the 

 unfortunate Owl from tree to tree. Sometimes a Blackbird or 

 other species will discover the Owl on its diurnal perch and 

 raise a racket, but the bird, without opening its eyes, simply 

 faces its persecutors. It never attempts to attack under these 

 circumstances, though it will kill birds as large as a Blackbird 

 or Starling. In addition to the usual small mammals, birds 

 and insects, the Wood-Owl will eat young rabbits, squirrels, 

 and even weasels ; like most other owls it has occasionally 

 been known to capture surface-swimming fish. When young 

 are in the nest the parents often provide far more than they 

 can eat, making a store for future use. The nest is usually in 

 a hollow tree, not infrequently in the deserted nest of some 

 other bird, and occasionally in holes in rocks, buildings, or on 



