162 OWLS. 



fare, and carry off the spoil in his presence, is a proof 

 that they must often be severely pressed by hunger. 

 Sportsmen in the north * assure us, that they keep watch 

 on some high tree or lofty rock, and the moment the 

 gun is fired and the game killed, they descend, and, 

 skimming rapidly down, secure the prey before the 

 shooter is able to get near it. 



Ptarmagans are a favourite food of these birds, and 

 are well aware of their danger. Their mode of escape 

 is, on perceiving the Owl about to pounce upon them, to 

 dive instantly into the loose snow, and make their way 

 beneath it to a considerable distance t. 



Our well-known White Owl is a very different bird in 

 its habits : so far from wandering far from the abodes 

 of man, it is always near or about our dwellings ; the 

 constant frequenter of our barns and outhouses, and 

 one of the farmer's best friends ; for to it we are in- 

 debted for the destruction of the shrew-mice, a species 

 which, but for the good service of our Barn-Owls, might 

 prove a great annoyance to our gardens and fields, since, 

 owing to a peculiar flavour or smell, neither cat nor dog 

 will eat them. On the approach of twilight, they sally 

 forth from their roosting-places, and hunt the meadows 

 and hedge-banks with the regularity of a pointer-dog; 

 every now and then they may be seen to drop suddenly 

 down, with great rapidity and unerring aim, on their 

 game, which is seized on and swallowed at once, without 

 any attempt to tear it in pieces with its claws. If, how- 

 ever, they have young ones, they carry off the prize in 

 their claws ; and here a curious piece of address is prac- 

 tised. It is evident, as long as the mouse is retained by 

 the claw, the old bird cannot avail itself of its feet, in 

 its ascent under the tiles, or approach to their holes ; 

 consequently, before it attempts this, it perches on the 

 nearest part of the roof, and there removing the mouse 

 from its claws to its bill, continues its flight to the nest. 



* HEAKNE'S Travelt. t KING'S Narrative, vol. i., p. 126. 



