AN OLD EARRED OWL 51 



some sleeping hen and carry her off to his little owlets 

 in their rude nest which had been used and abandoned by 

 a hawk the year before. Minks, foxes, coons, opossums 

 and skunks also knew the flavor of the flesh of the barn- 

 yard fowl. Why, then, unless one of these intruders was 

 actually caught in the act, should he always be given the 

 credit for the outrages committed on the barnyard 1 



Among the enemies with which the farmer has to con- 

 tend are the rabbits. They get into his garden and eat the 

 vegetables, and gnaw the young fruit trees to a dangerous 

 degree. The barred owls doubtless had no conscious desire 

 to render a service to the owner of the fields over which 

 they hunted, but they did it nevertheless by the num- 

 ber of cotton-tails which they annually destroyed. It was 

 not safe for a rabbit to expose itself in the locality inhab- 

 ited by the owls. Many a luckless one venturing out of 

 cover into the fields never returned, save as borne aloft 

 through the air by his arch enemy; for, suddenly and 

 without warning, there would bear down upon him, silently 

 as a shadow, the big gray bird. Fearful pains would seize 

 his body as the long talons closed upon him; he would 

 catch the fierce glare of two great brown eyes ; there would 

 be a brief struggle, and all would be over. 



The crawfish which had their holes in the damp ground 

 along the creek came out much at night and ran about, but 



