BARN OWL. 121 
ORDER STRIGES. 
FAMILY STRIGID. 
BARN OWL. 
STRIX FLAMMEA, Linnzeus. 
White Owl. 
Except in the Hill Country, where it is rare, the Barn 
Owl is a not uncommon resident throughout the county. 
Although generally nesting, and hiding during the day, 
in church towers, house roofs, barns, and dovecotes, 
many pairs are domiciled in hollow trees in the parks. 
The bird is often found in populous districts, several 
pairs nesting in house roofs in Bowdon, Sale, and other 
suburbs on the south side of Manchester. Dr. Dobie 
states that a pair used to nest annually in the old tower 
of Chester Cathedral, while others still rear their young 
in Chester and the immediate vicinity. A similar 
attachment to houses in populous suburbs has been 
noted at Bebbington and Birkenhead Park. 
The food of this Owl varies in accordance with the 
character of the district in which the bird lives, and an 
examination of its pellets shows that one animal is 
often preyed upon more than any other; for example, 
pellets from Great Budworth are mainly composed of 
the remains of the House Sparrow; in Dunham Park 
the staple food is the field-vole, but pellets from an out- 
lying covert yield long-tailed field-mice and common 
shrews in excess of any other creature. In the Cam- 
1 Dobie, op. cit. p. 311. 
