18 SOME BRITISH BIRDS OF PREY. 
year. He is certainly a ‘“‘High Churchman” for he is 
proverbially attached to the Church, and we can all remember 
the one in the Parish Church a few years ago. Moles, 
rats, shrews, and mice are extensively preyed on by this 
owl, and it is curious how one owl favours one kind of 
food, and another a different kind. For instance, the 
pellets found under one nest were all mice, and under 
another all rats. 
The Tawny Owl or Wood Owl is still fairly common in 
our district, although of late years its numbers have 
diminished owing to persistent persecution. Its existence 
at the present time in England is due to its nocturnal 
habits. 
The owls are closely related to the birds of prey, as is 
easily seen by the form of their bills, their claws, and by 
the shape of their eggs. 
