38 THE BIRDS OP OXFORDSHIEE. 



THE EAGLE OWL. 



Buho ignavus. 

 The Eag-le Owl is an accidental visitor from Northern 

 Europe. In the winter of 1833 a male was shot near Oxford, 

 and was examined in the flesh by the Rev. A. MatthewSj, 

 who, ten years later^ had the g-ood fortune to see this magnifi- 

 cent bird alive in the south of the county. In the autumn of 

 1 843, when travelling" by the Great Western Railway, he saw 

 a. large bird start from an embankment near Goring-, and 

 alight on a willow close to the line ; ' as soon as it settled,' 

 he writes, 'it turned its head round, and disclosed to my 

 astonishment the features of an Eagle Owl •/ it was then not 

 more than fifty yards away. [Zoologist, p. 259*^') 



THE BARN OWL. ' ^ 



AJkco flammeus. 



The Barn, White, or Screech Owl, as it has been variously 

 termed, is a resident species, and, notwithstanding" the 

 persecution to which it is subjected, is still very common. 

 Unlike its congeners, the Barn Owl, forsaking the woods and 

 wilder districts, draws near to our homestalls and villages, for 

 reasons to be mentioned presently, and many a village church 

 has its pair of Owls nesting annually, either in the edifice, or 

 in the old trees which stand round so many of our church- 

 yards. It is so at Chinnor, and Kingham, and many other 

 places j and in this parish they breed annually in the belfry, 

 the sonorous snoring of the young being plainly heard some 

 distance down the street in the quiet summer nights, and the 

 old birds may be seen in the moonlight skimming swiftly 

 round the angle of the tower, with noiseless ghostly flight, 

 bearing some furry morsel to their expectant young. 



It is a great pity that protection is not largely afforded to 

 the Barn Owl, for no bird confers such benefits on the 

 agriculturist. Some people there are, who, recognizing the 



