8 THE BIRDS OF BERKS AND BUCKS. 



I look at it — like Wordsworth's thrush in Cheapside — 

 it recalls to me the hot still summer day when we 

 effected its capture, and I almost try to sniff the 

 delicious, fir-scented Downs' air ; but as these bar- 

 racks are environed by a large gasometer, a brick- 

 field, and a tan-yard, the ideal soon merges into a 

 very disagreeable reality.' 



The Rev. H. H. Crewe tells me that the Rev. D. 

 Jenks, of Little Gaddesden, has a tame bird of this 

 species, taken from the nest in Ashridge Park, where 

 this owl breeds every year. 



White Owl {Strixflammea). Local names, Screech 

 Owl, White Ozvl, Cherubim, Barn Owl, Church Owl 

 This pretty owl is a very common species, and 

 breeds abundantly in the two counties. Several 

 pairs frequent the churches in the vicinity of Windsor, 

 and many old barns possess their pair of 'cherubims.' 

 The species is common in Windsor Great Park and 

 Winkfield, in Berkshire, while in Buckinghamshire 

 it is numerous at Ditton Park, near Eton Wick, 

 Chesham, Cookham, Drayton Beauchamp, at Stoke 

 Park, Burnham Beeches, and many other localities. 

 A nest was taken from a tree in Burnham Beeches, 

 in the spring of 1865, with as many as nine 

 eggs. 



A pair of these White Owls built in a cavity 

 near the top of the celebrated Heme's Oak, in 

 Windsor Park, the year before it was blown down. 



Mr. Atkins, of Eton, once had a tame bird of this 



