BIRDS AT NIGHT 199 



to snap up any one who is not careful to roost 

 in a safe place. Very likely they have seen 

 some friend made away with like this ; for 

 owls, though they feed mostly on mice and 

 other small beasts, since they find these 

 running about at night, are always ready to 

 seize on any bird that comes in their way. 

 The brown owl, which is a wood bird, catches 

 more birds than the barn-owl, which hunts 

 over the open country and does not catch many 

 birds except the sparrows, which roost in big 

 noisy companies in trees and ivy where the 

 owl can easily find them, without having to 

 search in the woods. 



Many owls even hunt in the daytime ; one 

 of these is the little owl, which is now the 

 commonest owl in many places in England, 

 although it is not naturally an English bird, 

 but has been brought over from the Continent 

 and let out by naturalists who like this quaint 

 little fellow. For the little owl is a very 

 comical-looking little bird, only about a black- 

 bird's size, with pale yellow eyes which give it 

 a very fierce look. This is the owl which was 

 sacred to the goddess of learning, Minerva, 

 or Athena as the Greeks called her, and it is 



