BIRDS IN THE CALENDAR 



food, though, seeing that they come to us 

 at any rate in the south country only in 

 winter, and even then irregularly, they can 

 do no damage to young game-birds, and are 

 probably incapable of capturing old. The 

 worst offender among the residents is the 

 tawny owl, to which I find the following 

 reference in the famous Malmesbury MSS. : 

 " Common here ... a great destroyer of 

 young game and leverets . . . they sit in 

 ivy bushes during the day, and I have 

 known one remain, altho' its mate was killed, 

 in the same tree, in such a state of torpor 

 did it appear to be. . ." The screech owl is 

 a harmless bird and a terror to mice, and 

 any doubt as to its claim on the farmer's 

 hospitality would at once be removed by 

 cursory examination of the undigested pellets 

 which, in common with hawks, these birds 

 cast up after their meals. 



On the other hand, there is sometimes good 

 reason for modifying any plea for kindness 

 to owls. Handsome is as handsome does, 

 and many of these birds are, during the 

 nesting season, not only savage in defence 

 of their young, but actually so aggressive 

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