30 HILLSIDE, ROCK, AND DALE 



look downwards with one half-opened eye. If he 

 thought danger was threatened he flew away, always 

 in. the direction of the nest, and perched on a 

 conspicuous branch ; and once a blackbird spotted 

 him. The noise and commotion which the latter 

 then made was worth hearing, for with his angry 

 cries he brought many other birds upon the scene ; 

 but the owl, preferring discretion to valour, flew 

 onwards. In the tree in which this owl roosted 

 there was a solid platform of thickly-matted ivy, and 

 this was used as a table on which to feed. I should 

 think that most of his food was brought here to 

 be devoured, to judge by the number of pellets cast 

 up. I often went up the tree to discover what 

 this interesting adventurer had had for his last meal. 

 Sparrow remains were often found, also plenty of fur 

 and teeth, showing that he was also fond of rodents. 

 The most remarkable thing, however, was the bones 

 and feathers of a male blackbird. The bones formed 

 one large pellet the largest owl's pellet I have seen 

 and the tail feathers and parts of the wings were 

 lying around. Perhaps these were the remains of a 

 bird which came a little too close to the owl when 

 scolding him ; for if a wood-owl flies abroad during 

 the day, blackbirds are the first to discover him, and 

 almost always attack the larger birds if they go 

 too near their nest; more probably it was taken 

 in the silent hours of night when roosting in the 



