LITTLE OWL 



419 



of introduction by human agency ; and it would therefore be worse 

 than useless to quote the details of such occurrences. As already 

 mentioned, numbers of these little owls have been turned out by land- 

 owners in various parts of the country during the last twelve or fifteen 

 years ; but even many of the earlier occurrences of the species are 

 rendered doubtful, at least in the north of England, by the fact that a 

 large number of these birds 

 were liberated in Yorkshire 

 in the year 1843. The 

 process of liberation and 

 spreading began in 1843 at 

 Walton Park, Yorkshire, but 

 the chief centres of dispersal 

 have in recent years been 

 Hampshire, Tring, Eden- 

 bridge in Kent, and Oundle. 

 From Oundle the birds appear 

 to have reached Woburn, 

 where they breed freely. 

 They also breed near Wat- 

 ford and other parts of Hert- 

 fordshire, while from the Kent 

 centre these owls have colon- 

 ised a considerable portion 

 of the south-east of England. 

 That the species finds condi- 

 tions in this country suitable 

 to its mode of life is demon- 

 strated by the circumstance 

 that pairs have nested and 

 reared their young in several 



English parks. There was no record of the occurrence of the species 

 in either Scotland or Ireland during the nineteenth century. 



Little owls are far from being solely nocturnal birds, and may at 

 times be seen hunting for insects, which constitute their chief food, 

 in broad daylight. They also kill and eat a certain number of mice 

 and small birds ; and they can be tamed and trained to catch mice, 

 beetles, and other vermin in dwelling-houses. The nest is a heap of 

 rubbish in some hollow tree, upon which are deposited in April or 

 May from four to six white eggs measuring between 1^ and i^ inches 

 in lenerth. 



LITTLK OWL. 



