160 



treat during the day is discovered, by placing a net in 

 the form of a bag over the mouth of the hole, for the 

 bird will by this means entrap itself when endeavouring 

 to come out for the evening. It is much used on the 

 Continent as a decoy to entrap small birds." M. Vieillot 

 says it is seldom found in forests. 



The actions of a specimen kept for more than two years 

 by Mr. Leadbeater of Brewer-street were singularly gro- 

 tesque and amusing. 



Edwards drew his figure of this Little Owl, plate 228, 

 from a specimen caught alive in a chimney in London; 

 and a second example was taken about the same time in 

 a similar situation, in the parish of Lambeth. It is re- 

 corded as having been killed in Sussex. Mr, Rennie, in 

 a note to a recent edition of White's Selborne, says, " I 

 recollect seeing in Wiltshire the remains of a specimen of 

 the rare Sparrow-Owl, Stria: passerina, nailed up to a 

 barn-door." Page 34. Two specimens, according to Dr. 

 Moore, have occurred in Devonshire : Montagu has also 

 mentioned one in the same county. T. C. Eyton, Esq., 

 sent me a notice of one taken near Bristol ; Dr. Hastings 

 mentions one instance of the occurrence of this bird in 

 Worcestershire ; and Pennant speaks of one taken in 

 Flintshire. In a direction north of London, Mr. Hunt 

 of Norwich, in his British Ornithology, says, " We recol- 

 lect a nest of these birds being taken at no great distance 

 from Norwich ; " and Mr. Paget, in the Sketch of the 

 Natural History of Yarmouth, mentions two specimens as 

 well authenticated. The Little Owl has occurred in York- 

 shire ; and the woodcut in Mr. Bewick's work was taken 

 from a drawing of a specimen shot at Widrington in North- 

 umberland, in January, 1813. M. Temminck says this 

 species does not go beyond the 55th degree of north lati- 

 tude. It is common in Germany and Holland, visits 



