NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 115 



very light, the wings seem arched out, and " take the wind light." 

 Tawny or brown owls are caught in the trunks of decayed old 

 trees in forests and large woods ; they are different in their habits 

 from the white owl, and prefer solitude. Mr. Davy has known the 

 nest to be five feet deep in the hollow of a tree. The boys find 

 the nests and get the young birds by taking a woollen stock- 

 ing and rolling it into a loose ball ; they then by means of a 

 string bob it up and down among the young owls. The owl 

 chicks turn on their backs and attack it with their claws; they 

 don't seem to have sense to let go, but keep hold, and up they 

 must come. The tawny owls are more rare than the white owls. 

 There is abundance of the tawny owls in the New Forest. 

 Watford is a noted place for them, especially the old trees in 

 Lord Essex's park. This is also a wonderful place for nightin- 

 gales. 



There are, it is believed, no owls in Derbyshire. Squire 

 Wright, of Osmaston, is endeavouring to establish them in a 

 belfry on his mansion. 



These useful birds may be established, if owners of property 

 choose to do so, and the locality itself is favourable. Seven 

 years ago Mr. Davy sold, through Bailey, coachman to Mr. 

 G. S. Bancroft, M.P. for Leeds, two nests of young barn owls, 

 this gentleman wishing to establish them amongst the ruins 

 of Kirkstall Abbey, near Leeds. When the young owls were 

 strong enough they were turned loose, and being tame, were fed 

 nightly for a time until they could find their own food and shift 

 for themselves. Owls from that time to the present can be seen 

 at night time Hying about the ruins. The monastery of Kirkstall 

 was built in the year 1100. I am sorry to see that the ladies are 

 making use of owls as ornaments for hats and fire-screens T saw 

 in a shop window a lady's hat with a whole owl on it. I advise 

 all ladies who are frightened at mice not to wear these owl 

 bonnets, for if the owls are killed we shall soon have a plague of 

 mice. 



When pressed for food owls will take any kind of small live 

 tiling ; they lay up in store, mice, &c., round about their nests. 



Mr. Davy has had the young ones both of the long and short 

 eared owls from the neighbourhood of Weybridge. He gets 

 more of the long than the short-eared owls. There is always a 

 sale for owls in London ; the common fetch from two shillings ; 

 the horned ones, when matured, average 7s. 6d. each. 



Owls will destroy pigeons under a week old, but only when 

 pressed for food. Stormy and wet evenings keep the mice from 

 moving about; so owls work very hard in wet weather. A 

 calm, gloomy night is the time for owls. 



