22 Bird-keeping. 



which was forbidden territory to him : he would get 

 in by the window, if it was incautiously left open, if 

 he could not get in by the door. He never did any 

 mischief, but went about gravely examining every- 

 thing ; then perched himself upon a chair and looked 

 out of window, as if perfectly happy and contented 

 there. 



His real home was the stable, but he was very little 

 in it except at night. He was fed chiefly on raw meat, 

 and when ill of the "gapes," was doctored, like the 

 fowls, with peppercorns. The friend who gave me 

 this account (one of the sisters to whom he belonged) 

 did not remember his catching mice : she said he lived 

 a very artificial life, being wide awake all day and 

 asleep at night, and died of consumption, supposed to 

 be brought on by the great changes of temperature to 

 which he was subjected. If, however, he had no mice, 

 he would probably be destroyed by the absence of the 

 fur or feathers, which all Owls require as much as 

 Hawks. A gentleman who kept one of these Owls 

 says that if he had no mice, he swallowed sand and 

 small stones with his raw meat, and the pellets he 

 threw up consisted chiefly of these, which seemed to 

 have answered the same purpose as the fur and bones 

 of the mice. This Owl ate rabbits, rats, moles, frogs, 

 and black slugs when given to him. Bechstein says 

 that the White Owl should be kept in a large cage, or 

 chained to a perch in an aviary or bird-room, as it 



