50 Favourite Foreign Birds. 



greedily devoured, and were invariably plucked before 

 being consumed. Mice, if small, were swallowed 

 whole, but those of a larger size were dismembered, 

 and no part was left, the fur and bones being 

 afterwards cast up in little pellets, after the manner 

 of all predaceous birds. It both drank and bathed, 

 and was always more lively in the dusk of the 

 morning and evening than at other times, retiring 

 in the day to the darkest corner of its den, where 

 it was accustomed to sit on a half-brick in preference 

 to a wooden perch, with which it was also provided. 



