TEALS WHITE OWLS. 167 



young wild ducks, many of which they caught, and, 

 among the rest, some very minute yet well-fledged 

 wild fowls alive, which, upon examination, I found 

 to be teals. I did not know till then that teals ever 

 bred in the south of England, and was much pleased 

 with the discovery : this I look upon as a great 

 stroke in natural history. 



We have had, ever since I can remember, a pair 

 of white owls that constantly breed under the eaves 

 of this church. As I have paid good attention to 

 the manner of life of these birds during their season 

 of breeding, which lasts the summer through, the 

 following remarks may not perhaps be unacceptable. 

 About an hour before sunset, (for then the mice 

 begin to run,) they sally forth in quest of prey, and 

 hunt all round the hedges of meadows and small 

 enclosures for them, which seem to be their only 

 food. In this irregular country we can stand on 

 an eminence and see them beat the fields over like 

 a setting-dog, and often drop down in the grass or 

 corn. I have minuted these birds with my watch 

 for an hour together, and have found, that they 

 return to their nest, the one or the other of them, 

 about once in five minutes ; reflecting, at the same 

 time, on the adroitness that every animal is pos- 

 sessed of, as far as regards the well-being of itself 

 and offspring. But a piece of address, which they 

 shew when they return loaded, should not, I think, 

 be passed over in silence. As they take their prey 

 with their claws, so they carry it in their claws to 

 their nest ; but, as the feet are necessary in their 

 ascent under the tiles, they constantly perch first on 

 the roof of the chancel, and shift the mouse from 

 their claws to their bill, that the feet may be at liberty 

 to take hold of the plate on the wall, as they are 

 rising under the eaves. 



White owls seem not (but in this I am not posi- 



