158 WHITE OWL. 
others doubtless must have been devoured before morning. 
He who destroys an Owl ‘s an encourager of vermin—nine 
mice have been found in the stomach jo8 one, a veritable 
‘nine killer.” It is very interesting to watch it when hunting 
for such prey—stop shert suddenly in its buoyant flight, and 
drop in the most adroit manner to the earth, from which it 
for the mest part speedily re-ascends with its booty in its 
claw; occasionally, however, it remains on the spot for a 
considerable time; ‘and this,’ says Sir Wilham Jardine, 4s 
always done at the season of incubation for the support of 
the young.’ It also oczasionally eats small birds—thrushes, 
larks, bunting’, sparrows, and others, as also beetles and 
other insects. A tame one kept in a large garden, killed a 
lapwing, its companion. 
Mr. Waterton argues ah x4 Owls cannot destroy pigeons, or 
the pigeons would be afraid of them as they are of Hawks; 
but this is not quite conclusive; for, as shewn in previous 
articles, pigeons and other small birds become habituated to 
the presence of Hawks, and the latter, as it would seem, to 
theirs, so that both parties dwell together in amity as much 
as the Owis and pigeons, from acquired habit, or natural 
instinct. 
‘A person,’ dice Bishop Stanley, ‘who kept pigeons, and 
often had a great number of young ones destroyed, laid it 
on a pair of Owls which visited the premises; and accord- 
ingly, cne moonlight night, he stationed himself, gun in 
hand, close to the dove- iipniciee for the purpose of shooting 
the Owls. He had not taken his station long, before he 
saw one of trem flying out with a prize in its claws; he 
pulled the trigger, and down came the poor bird, but instead 
of finding the carease of a young pigeon, he found an old 
rat, nearly dead.’ ‘These Owls feed on shrew mice, though 
reiected by cats and other animals, on account, as 1s supposed, 
of their disliking either their taste or smell, but it would 
seem that they do not prefer them, for the Rev. Leonafd 
Jenyns has observed that shrews are repeatedly found whole 
beneath the nest, as if cast out for the like reason; and 
IT cannot help thinking that the very frequent occurrence 
of these mice dead on “pathways in fields, which every one 
must have observed, may be attributable to the same cause. 
Fish is also occasionally the prey of this species of Owl, as 
well as of others, possibly at times of all. It has been 
suggested that the glare of their eyes may be a means of 
