Owls. 113 



toes behind. But though, as we have said, much 

 may be learned from a visit to the " owls' cages" 

 at the Zoo, unfortunately the vastly important 

 lesson that owls are the farmer's greatest friends, 

 and are practically harmless to the game-pre- 

 server, cannot be learnt by observing them in 

 captivity. 



In these remarks we refer only to the commoner 

 of the British species, as the snowy owl, the hawk 

 owl, and the eagle owl (which are, without doubt, 

 given to preying on game-birds, hares, &c.), 

 though included in the British list, are of such 

 rare occurrence in this country that they may 

 be left out of consideration altogether. 



The food of the owl can be determined with 

 absolute certainty, as the bird swallows its prey, 

 bones, fur, feathers, and all, and afterwards dis- 

 gorges the indigestible parts in the shape of 

 pellets, numbers of which can always be found 

 near its haunts a well-known fact, yet one of 

 which neither the farmer nor the gamekeeper 

 takes the slightest notice. Dr. Altum, a German 

 naturalist, examined hundreds of pellets of the 

 barn ,owl and the tawny owl, among other species, 

 with the following remarkable results : 706 

 pellets of the barn owl yielded the remains of 16 

 bats, 3 rats, 2520 mice of sorts, including voles 

 and shrews, 1 mole, and 22 small birds; while 

 210 pellets of the tawny owl a bird which, ac- 

 cording to most gamekeepers, and even to many 

 writers on game-preserving who should know 



I 



