27 



rats, mice, shrews and small birds, and less commonly on insects, 

 parts of all of which have been recognised at different times on examina- 

 tion of the pellets rejected through the mouth, which are generally 

 to be found in abundance near any place of their resort. The Barn 

 Owls undoubtedly render good service to the agriculturist by the 

 destruction of vermin. Two to six eggs are commonly laid, of a dull 

 white in colouring (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, draw^er 7). 



Case 181. 



TAWNY OWL {Syrnium aluco). 

 Local name : Wood-owl. 



This species, also known as the Brown Owl, is fairly common 

 throughout Great Britain, wherever woods and crags suitable to its 

 habits are found. It does not appear to occur in Ireland. It is more 

 nocturnal than any other British Owl, and feeds chiefly on rats, mice, 

 moles, and sometimes on small birds, insects, or surface-swimming 

 fishes. The nesting sites vary much, the most usual being a hollow 

 in the trunk of a tree, but old nests of Rooks, Crows and other birds 

 are frequently used, while ruins, barns and disused chimneys are 

 sometimes resorted to, and not infrequently the bare ground, under 

 shelter of fir branches or roots. Three or four eggs, smooth, white 

 and nearly round in shape (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 7), 

 are laid sometimes as early as the end of February. 



Case 182. 



LONG-EARED OWL {Asio otus). 



A resident species, generally distributed throughout the wooded 

 districts of Great Britain and Ireland, and especially partial to fir 

 plantations. In Lancashire, it is more sparsely found than other 

 British Owls, but is plentiful in some parts of the county. Witton 

 Park, Blackburn, is recorded as a nesting site (Zoologist, 1904, p. 259). 

 Nocturnal in habit, it feeds principally on small rats, mice and birds, 

 and occasionally beetles and other insects. The eggs, white, and from 

 four to six in number (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 7), are 

 usually laid very early in the year in an old squirrel's drey, or in the 

 deserted nest of some large bird (as here shown), but occasionally 

 they are laid on the ground, at the foot of a hollow tree. 



Case 183. 



SPARROW-HAWK {Accipiter nisus). 



The Sparrow-Hawk is a common resident in wooded districts of 

 our local area as of the British Isles generally, and everywhere across 

 central Europe and Asia. It feeds on small birds (catching them 



