under one nest will contain only the remains of mice, those under another 

 tree all rats or small birds. The number of small quadrupeds that one Barn 

 Owl will destroy is marvellous, and is clearly shown by the bushels of 

 pellets which are found in and around the nesting-place. And yet the game- 

 keeper ruthlessly destroys the Owls, and hangs them on his vermin-poles as 

 enemies of game. In one nest I have seen as many as eight full-grown rats, 

 all newly killed : think of the damage they would have done ! No doubt the 

 Barn Owl does take a few small birds, such as sparrows, yellow-hammers, 

 and linnets, catching them as they roost on some exposed position on his 

 beat, but I have never heard of any remains of young game-birds being 

 found in the pellets. 



The usual note of the Barn Owl is a screech which is quite impossible 

 to describe on paper; it has also a curious note, which can best be described 

 as a ' snore,' and is generally uttered by the young birds. 



The Barn Owl makes no nest ; the eggs are laid in some convenient 

 hole, either in a tree or in some building or cleft among rocks, and the eggs 

 are often surrounded by pellets. Eggs are seldom found before the end of 

 April or the beginning of May, and two broods, sometimes even three, are 

 reared in a season ; hence nests containing eggs are occasionally found as late 

 as the end of September. The number of eggs laid varies from four to seven ; 

 they are pure white, with little or no gloss, and are not quite so round 

 as the eggs of most Owls. They vary in length from i'68 to 1*52 inch, and 

 in breadth from 1*3 to ri8 inch. 



