146 BRITISH BIRDS 



without flying away. After a little more time has elapsed, 

 they will not scuttle off when the casement is opened 

 and the purveyor of their good things appears at it and 

 puts a fresh supply of dainties on the board, and then 

 they will venture into the room, and become as tame, 

 confiding, and loving as it is in the nature of these birds 

 to be. This is certainly preferable to putting them into 

 a cage, where they knock themselves about and sadly mar 

 their personal appearance, which is their great and indeed 

 only attraction. 



The Nuthatch is one of the birds the present writer 

 has never attempted to bring up by hand, nor can he 

 recall an instance of anyone else having done so ; all 

 the examples of the species he has seen in confinement 

 having been captured when full grown in traps, mostly of 

 the primitive brick pattern, baited with nuts. For one Nut- 

 hatch that survives when thus caught, at least five die. 



THE ORTOLAN. See under Buntings. 



THE RING OUZEL. See under Thrushes. 



THE OWLS. 



The Barn Owl. 



This bird, which Mr. Morris facetiously terms *'a High 

 Churchman," in allusion to its habit of frequenting church- 

 towers, which it often shares with the Jackdaws, is also 

 known as the White Owl from the light colour of its 

 plumage : this is pale buff on the upper and white on the 

 lower surface of the body. 



Occasionally it ventures out in the subdued light of a dull 

 day, but is then invariably mobbed by the small birds and 

 has to beat a hasty retreat. Its natural diet consists of 



