British Owls- 169 



I will confine my remarks to those, although I have kept 

 others equally interesting. 



No Owl is suited for a cage. An aviary is a sine qua 

 7ion, and the larger the better. They are sociable creatures, 

 generally speaking. 1 have kept Tawny, Barn, Little, Long- 

 eared, and Short -eared Owls in one aviary, and they have lived 

 quite amicably. 



The Eagle Owl {Bubo ignacus, Forster), the largest 

 of the family, is a powerful bird. In the Hartz Mountains 

 these birds are by no means rare and are frequently employed 

 by gamekeepers and bird catchers to attract other species. 

 When caught young, they soon become tame and affectionate . 

 One of mine was very I'ond of having his head scratched, 

 blinking with pleasure in an absurd way, while the process 

 continued. Eagle Owls will breed in captivity, but I cannot 

 atate this from personal experience as I did not have a pair. 

 This bird never formed such an attraction for small birds as 

 the Little Owls, who were always being mobbed, chiefly by 

 Swallows and Missel Thrushes. 



The Little Owl (^Athene noctua, Soopoli), was formerly, 

 extremely rare in England, but owing to many importations, 

 is now a common variety in North Bucks, and Northants dis- 

 tricts. You will meet them at every turn if you walk across 

 the fields. They hunt in the day time as well as at night 

 and are more des,tructive to bird lire than any other Owl. 

 Lideed, 1 will go as far as to say that all English Owls are 

 uscfuL with the one exception — the Little Owl, who is rapidly 

 becoming a pest in its wild state. I find their nests, usually 

 in the hole of an oak tree, containing the usual white eggs. 

 It is the fiercest of all for its size, and practically untameabie., 

 I have had them before they were fully fledged and brought 

 them up by hand, but they always remain wild. It is only 

 lair to add that i have heard of some which showed aft'ection 

 to their keepers, but my own experience was contrary. I 

 consider the Little Owl quite the " lunny man" in the aviary; 

 his grotesque "jack-in-the-box" movements compel laughter 

 from anyone seeing him for the first time. 



Quite different is the Tawny Owl {Si/rnium aluco, 

 Linnaeus)^ perhaps the best known species, which is easily 

 tamed when obtained from the nest. It is a common bird in 



