JOUUXAL OF THE WILD BIRD INVESTIGATION- SOCIETY. 



SOME REMARKS ON THE FOOD OF THE BARN-OWL fSTRIX FLAMMHA. LINN.) 

 Bv WALTER E. COLLINGE, D.Sc, F.L.S., M.B.O.U. 



In a recent paper' the writer has (haw n 

 attention to the relationship existing Ix-lween 

 hawks and owls and agriculture, and he has 

 been asked to publish a voluiiielric analysis 

 of the food of owls, such as has recently been 

 yiven for a number of our commoner birds. - 



As vei we have only a record for the Barn- 

 0\\\. foimded upon an examination of the 



her, ant! the pellets (hiring;' eacit monlli of the 

 year. 



An analysis ol this nuiterial sIkjws that the 

 whole ot the fooil consists of animal matter. 

 Of the total bulk 7.5 per cent, is ctjmpcxsed of 

 inJLirious insects, 6S.5 per cent, of mice and 

 volfs, (J. 3 per cent, of house sjjarrows, star- 

 linL;s and blackbirtis, g.5 per cent, of shrew 



Fif;. 1. — Diagrammatic Representation of the Percentages of I'ood of the Harn-Owl. The portions 

 sharleil by longitudinal lines represent food that it is beneficial the bird should eat : those stippled, 

 food that it is injurious they should eat, and the blank portion food of a neutral nature. 



contenis of twelve stoinachs and upwards of 

 three hundred pellets, but as this bird is such 

 a \aluable one to the ajjfrictilttirist it seems 

 desirable .to publish the fig^ures. 



The twelve specimens examined weie ob- 

 tained, one each month, from .March to Octo- 



' Tlie Ci)ntein])orary Review, 1919 (May), pp. 576-5SO. 

 -journ. I)d. Ag-ric, 1918 (Sept.), pp. 66S-691.17 figs.: 1919 

 (March I, jip 144.1.1462. 9 fig^s. 



mice, 4.S |)er cent, of small birds, and i per 

 cent, of neutral insects, 'i'hus 85.3 per cent, 

 of the fdod is benelici;ii, 13.5 per cent, injuri- 

 ous, and I per cent, neutral {l*"ig. i). 



I looper's statement,' th;it nine-tenths of this 

 bird's footl consists of mice, would seem to be 

 a fairlv reasonable eslimate. The actual num- 



' Journ. Soc. .Xrls. 190(., vol. Iv. pp. 71-SS. 



