180 THE LITTLE NIGHT OWL. 



ruins, as well as the recesses of woods, on the Continent ; but it 

 is very rare, and does not breed in Britain. I might have 

 stopped with the eight owls — four of which have horns, viz., 

 the eagle owl, long-eared owl, short-eared, and little-eared owls ; 

 the other four being the snowy owl, the white or barn owl, the 

 brown or tawny owl, and Tengmalm's owl ; but as Professor 

 Heddle was not certain whether the one he saw at St Leonard's 

 was Tengmalm's owl or this one, I have included it here. Its 

 general colour is brown, with a grey tinge, spotted with white ; 

 it lays three or four round white eggs, If by 1^ inches, against 

 Is 1 6 by I 16 as in Tengmalm's. Having now given my descrip- 

 tion of the owls, I cannot do better than finish with " A nice 

 letter from a Barn Owl," sent to the press by Mrs Jarvis, Bird 

 Protection Society, Kirkliston, 1st March 1888 : — 



" Dear Young Friends, — As none of my relations have ever written 

 to you, I shall begin by telling you who I am, and how I get my living. I 

 am a member of the rapacious, or preying, or catching order of the feathered 

 race. We are the winged hunters of the world, and we live on flesh, fowl, 

 or fish ; have powerful beaks, very strong legs and claws, keen sight and 

 acute hearing. We hunt for our food, some by day and some by night. 

 We are solitary birds, living in couples in lonely places. There is not one 

 singer amongst us ; but wherever our voices are heard, smaller birds and 

 animals pop away into hiding-places : yet everybody knows that we are of 

 great use in the world, although our manners are not very gentle. 



"My cousins are the vultures, hawks, and eagles, and my family name is 

 owl. There are many different kinds of owls in the world, and in this 

 country there are eight kinds. Four of them have feathers sticking up on 

 each side of their heads like horns, and on that account are called horned 

 oivls. The other four kinds are called smooth-headed oiols — these are the 

 snowy owl, the barn owl, the tawny owl, and the little owl. I am a barn 

 owl, and one of the farmer's best friends. I am of more use in his stack- 

 yard than a dozen cats, and he does not need to feed me. All I want is a 

 dark corner in one of his barns or outhouses, where I can sit in peace and 

 quietness during the day and enjoy my ' forty winks.' Some people who 

 have only seen me in the day time when I am sleepy call me dull, stupid, 

 moping ; but if they saw me in the twilight and moonlight playing at hide- 

 and-seek with the mice, rats, and beetles in the stackyard, they would 

 change their opinion of me. I can easily catch forty mice in one night. 

 My eyes, like those of the cat, are formed for seeing in the dark better than in 

 the light, and they are placed much nearer together than the eyes of most 

 birds, so that I can look straight before with both eyes the same as you do. 

 I have a nice round face, which gives me an ancient, wise look when I turn 

 my head. My coat is very thick and made of the softest down, so that 

 when I fly I make no noise. If your eyes were shut and I flew close past 

 your face you could not hear my flight. 



" When I find a place where I can live undisturbed, I seldom leave it. 

 And while sitting dozing all day I vomit up pellets. These are balls made 

 of the fur, bones, teeth, feathers, &c, of the mice and other creatures which 

 I swallowed whole while hunting during the night. Robins, blackbirds, 

 hawks, and many other birds eject pellets made of what they cannot 

 digest. Now, as the floor of my house is always strewn with pellets, I 

 seldom trouble to make a pretty nest, but only put a few straws and twigs 

 among them for my eggs to lie on. I lay two white eggs, and then wait 



