Ee2 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
These Owls are more sociable than larger ones, and assemble in 
flocks in autumn and spring to migrate into warmer climates ; they 
depart after the Swallows, and get to their destination soon after. 
They are of great service to the agriculturist in destroying field-mice. 
“At times when this scourge was prevalent,” says Buffon, ‘small 
Horned Owls have been known to arrive in numbers, and wage such a 
Fig. 256.—The Scops-eared Owl. 
successful warfare against the field-mice, that in a few days the 
ground was cleared of them.” . 
Dale, an English author, mentions another example of the utility 
of the Scops. In 1580 such a large quantity of mice appeared in the 
plains near South Minster that all the plants were gnawed off by the 
roots. Soon after, a number of small Horned Owls came in flocks, 
and destroyed the mice. . 
When pressed by hunger, the Scops is not above eating fish. It 
may then be seen hovering over ponds and rivers, and seizing them 
