NOCTUA PASSERINA. 179 



formerly the chosen bird of the goddess Athene, and, as such, was con- 

 sidered holy. Possibly for this reason it may have been condemned after 

 Christianity was established, just as German gods and legendary heroes 

 were deemed fiendish beings by the monks, and continued during the 

 belief in the witchcraft of the Middle Ages. Or, perchance, some holy 

 man, engaged in some necessary duty, may have in the dark sat down on 

 a hedgehog, and his curses have followed ever since." 



But regarding the wholesale shooting of owls and other birds 

 of prey in Scotland, as this is passing through the press, on 

 May 7th, 1892, I see an interesting article in the Saturday 

 Reuiew upon the present plague of mice, which says : — 



" It is probable that Nature will resent the disturbance of her balance, 

 and possibly the destruction of owls may have given the mice the chance. 

 If so, it is more than time to check the keepers, who, in some parts of Scot- 

 land, are shooting down everything — even the harmless and pleasant little 

 water ousel. Nobody in his senses can place the interests of grouse against 

 the interests of sheep, nor an English shooting tenant's amusements against 

 Dandle Dinmont's livelihood." 



Another letter in the Glasgow Herald of May 10th, 1892, 

 regarding the " mice plague," says : — 



" Some of your readers may ask — Where have the mice come from ? The 

 gamekeepers could throw some light upon this. Part of their duty is to 

 wage a war of extermination against all creatures likely to disturb or prey 

 upon the young game on the estates of their masters. The consequence is 

 that in protecting young partridges, pheasants, grouse, &c, they have pro- 

 tected field mice ; and as they are considerably more prolific than game, 

 they are asserting themselves — just as numerically powerful combinations 

 of miners and dock labourers and others do. It is a delicate and a critical 

 matter to play fast and loose with Nature and her equilibrium of arrange- 

 ments." — R. J. W. 



The Little Night Owl. 



(Strix Passerina) Linn. (Nochia Passerina) Mihi. 



" In weary being now I pine, 

 For a' the life of life is dead, 

 And Hope has left my aged ken, 

 On forward wing for ever fled." — Burns. 



This owl is about the size of the jay, and is sometimes con- 

 founded with Tengmalm's night owl, which it resembles, but 

 it is easily distinguished by its toes being covered with 

 bristles like the barn owl's, instead of feathers, like the rest of 

 the owls ; and its tarsi longer. If it were human it would be 

 deemed religious, as it frequents church steeples, towers, and 



