302 
are now generally arranged in two groups—the horned owls, those 
having ears or egrets, and those without these appendages. Mr. 
Williams then proceeded to give the economy of the owl, the eyes, 
facial disk, ears, plumage, and feet, illustrating his remarks by 
some beautifully stuffed specimens—of which there were eight 
out of the ten species known—their habits, haunts, method of 
eating food and of fighting were described, and some interesting 
anecdotes concluded an instructive paper. Two live specimens of 
the brown owl were exhibited. 
The PRESIDENT congratulated Mr. Williams on his paper, and 
hoped that it was only an instalment of future papers on Natural 
History. As to the ten species of owls enumerated by Mr. 
Williams, four only—the white, brown, and the short and 
long-eared owls—may be said to be common, the other six 
were not so common. The ears or egrets, he took the oppor- 
tunity of saying, are considered of no value in classification. In 
Tengmalm’s owl, the two ears are symmetrical to the extent of 
affecting the cranium. Having had exceptional opportunity of 
observing the habits of the barn or white owl, a pair ot which 
for some time used to have their nest in the roof over his bed- 
room, he corroborated Mr. Williams’ remarks onthem. Often had 
he watched them glide away in the dusk every evening to search 
the fields for mice, and timing them with his watch had 
ascertained that they returned every five minutes with a mouse in 
their claw, which they shifted to the beak for the purpose of 
better access to their nest. J*rom the pellets which they rejected, 
their food was in every case field mice or voles, whereas the food 
of the brown owl is more varied. The short-eared owl was a 
migratory bird, and followed the mice wherever they were— 
indeed, as the plague of voles increased, so did the number of 
owls. Shrew mice were often found at the foot of the nest along 
with the pellets, but which were never eaten, and in consequence 
rejected. Wherever there is a plague of voles, as there often is 
in one or other parts of this country, short-eared owls appear in 
