1889-90-] Rats and the Balance of Nature. 335 



and I do not know one who destroys owls. In recent 

 years I have been at many cover-shootings, even in East 

 Lothian, and have seen numbers of owls flying out of the thick 

 woods before the beaters, but never knew any one lift a gun 

 to them. Let those who write denouncing the destruction of 

 owls in the papers state their authority, where they were 

 destroyed, and by whom, before rushing into print and making 

 statements which I believe to be rash, unwarrantable, and 

 erroneous. Since the rat question came into such prominence, 

 I have written to a large number of gamekeepers in different 

 parts of the country, requesting them to send me their obser- 

 vations regarding what was the staple food of owls. As I 

 have never known them to feed on rats myself — except dead 

 ones in confinement — I was anxious to have the testimony of 

 others whose veracity, I knew, could not be called in question. 

 Some of them, like myself, have never seen any indication of 

 rats having been carried to the nest of owls ; but some, I 

 must be frank enough to confess, have. Mr Thompson, head- 

 keeper to Colonel Trotter of Charter Hall, in Berwickshire, a 

 most intelligent observer, writes : " I have never known a hawk 

 kill a rat. Kestrels may sometimes kill a young one, but, 

 hunting during the day, their chance of killing rats is very 

 small. I have seen the remains of young rats near an owl's 

 nest." 



Mr Martin, head-keeper to His Grace the Duke of Buc- 

 cleuch at Bowhill, also writes : " I have never seen the remains 

 of rats at owls' nests in the woods, but it is right to mention 

 that for several consecutive years an owl's nest was in the 

 pigeon-house beside the joiner's shop, sawmill, &c., in connec- 

 tion with the Bowhill estate. When the young birds were 

 hatched, great interest was taken as to what was carried to 

 feed them. It was observed that the old birds commenced 

 to carry food between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, 

 and it was discovered that young pigeons, both wild and tame, 

 young pheasants, and other young birds, such as thrushes and 

 blackbirds, young rabbits, a great number of mice, and a few 

 rats — none of the latter except very small ones — were included 

 in the bill of fare. One day the owl was observed carrying 

 something unusual into the pigeon-house, and a ladder being 

 procured, a young wild duck, not quite dead, was found at the 



