ISO OWLS. 



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, however, they have 

 young ones, they carry off the prize in their claws ; and here 

 a curious piece of address is practised. 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. Some 

 idea may be formed of the number of mice destroyed by a 

 pair of Barn-Owls, when it is known that in the short space 

 of twenty minutes the old birds carried food to their young 

 twelve times, thus destroying at least nearly forty mice every 

 hour during the time they continue hunting ; and as young 

 Owls remain long in the nest, many hundreds of mice must 

 be destroyed in the course of rearing them. 



If taken young, they may be tamed, so far as to eat out of 

 the hand, and become to a certain degree familiar; but in 

 •their wild state even, they seem to be sensible of kindness, and 

 lose much of their shyness if never disturbed. A gentleman 

 in Yorkshire, Mr. Waterton, who has paid great attention to 

 their habits, gives a very interesting account of their mode 

 of life. He made a sort of dwelling for them, about four feet 

 square, on the ruins of an old gateway, and trained some ivy 

 round about, which soon concealed it. In the stonework he 

 fixed a thick oaken stick for them to perch upon. In about 

 a montfi after everything was ready, a pair of Barn-Owls 

 came and established themselves there. This succeeded so 

 well that he formed some other similar places, all of which 

 were in like manner soon occupied by pairs of Owls. That in 

 the old gateway was so contrived that he could examine it 

 whenever he pleased ; and as they were never injured, the Owls 

 soon grew confident, and betrayed no fear when strangers 

 mounted a ladder to look in. One rather unexpected piece of 

 information was learned from constant inspection, namely, 



