76 BIRDS OF PREY. 



In the old continent it is almost domestic, inhabiting even pop- 

 ulous towns, and is particularly attached to towers, belfries, 

 the roofs of churches, and other lofty buildings, which afford 

 it a retreat during the day. The elegant, graphic lines of 

 Gray, describing its romantic haunt, are in the recollection of 



every one, — 



" From yonder ivy-mantled tower 

 The moping Owl does to the moon complain 

 Of such as, wandering near her secret bower, 

 Molest her ancient solitary reign." 



Superstition laid aside, these Owls render essential service to 

 the farmer by destroying mice, rats, and shrews, which infest 

 houses and bams ; they also catch bats and beetles. They 

 likewise clear churches of such vermin, and now and then, 

 pressed by hunger, they have been known to sip, or rather eat, 

 the oil from the lamps when congealed by cold. A still more 

 extraordinary appetite, attributed to them, is that of catch- 

 ing fish, on which they fed their voracious young. In autumn 

 also they have been known to pay a nightly visit to the places 

 where springes were laid for Woodcocks and Thrushes. The 

 former they killed and ate on the spot ; but sometimes carried 

 off the Thrushes and smaller birds, which, like mice, they either 

 swallowed entire, rejecting the indigestible parts by the bill, 

 or if too large, they plucked off the feathers and then bolted 

 them whole, or only took them down piecemeal. 



In fine weather they venture out into the neighboring woods 

 at night, returning to their usual retreat at the approach of 

 morning. When they first sally from their holes, their eyes 

 hardly well opened, they fly tumbling along almost to the 

 ground, and usually proceed side-ways in their course. In 

 severe seasons, 5 or 6, probably a family brood, are discov- 

 ered in the same retreat, or concealed in the fodder of the 

 bam, where they find, shelter, warmth, and food. The Barn 

 Owl drops her eggs in the bare holes of walls, in the joists 

 of houses, or in the hollows of decayed trees, and spreads 

 no lining to receive them ; they are 3 to 5 in number, of a 

 whitish color, and rather long than round. 



