WHITE, OR BARN OWL. 141 



large, and furnished with an operculuin. Wings long and ample ; the 

 second quill-feather generally the longest, the first and third equal in 

 length. Legs long and slender, clothed with downy feathers to the junc- 

 tion of the toes, which are only furnished on the upper surface with a few 

 hair-like feathers; claws long, curved, sharp, and grooved underneath. 



NATURALISTS appear to be agreed that our well-known 

 Barn Owl may be considered the type of the true Owls, 

 and the old generic term Strix is accordingly by most 

 authors continued to it. Unlike the species last described, 

 the Barn Owl is resident in this country throughout the 

 year, and is so peculiar in the colouring of its plumage, 

 and so generally diffused, that it is probably the best 

 known of all the British species of Owls. 



This White Owl inhabits churches, barns, old malting 

 kilns, or deserted ruins of any sort, and also holes in de- 

 cayed trees. If unmolested, the same haunts are fre- 

 quented, either by parent birds or their offspring for many 

 years in succession. As constant destroyers of rats and 

 mice, and that to a very considerable extent, the services 

 performed by Barn Owls for the agriculturist have obtained 

 for these birds toleration at least, while by some they are, as 

 they deserve to be, strictly protected in return for benefits 

 received. 



Unless disturbed, these birds seldom leave their retreat 

 during the day, and if the place of concealment be ap- 

 proached with caution, and a view of the bird obtained, it 

 will generally be observed to have its eyes closed, as if 

 asleep. About sunset the pair of Owls, particularly when 

 they have young, issue forth in quest of food, and may be 

 observed napping gently along, searching lanes, hedge-rows, 

 orchards, and small enclosures near out-buildings. In this 

 irregular country, says White of Selborne, " 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." 

 They feed on young rats, mice, shrews, small birds, insects, 



