198 WOODLAND CREATURES 



come to the surface on a dewy evening. I have 

 seen the owls busy at this business on the tennis 

 lawn on a moonlight night, besides finding 

 evidence of it next morning i.e. splashes of 

 " whitewash " where they had sat on the tennis 

 poles and croquet hoops. 



With a view to finding out what the Brown 

 Owl does and does not eat, I soaked 17 pellets 

 in warm water, and carefully examined each 

 one as it dissolved. They yielded the bones of 

 2 long-tailed mice, i bank vole, 19 short- 

 tailed meadow voles, 3 common shrews, 3 half- 

 grown rats, i very small rabbit, a number of 

 beetles, and 3 small birds (probably chaffinches) 

 that could not be identified with certainty. 

 Altogether 29 rodents and shrews to 3 birds. I 

 once found a half -grown water vole in a Brown 

 Owl's nest, and later, in the same nest, a young 

 mistle-thrush, but from the above it is plain 

 that the Brown Owl is chiefly a mouse-killer, 

 and that it does not often take feathers ; still, 

 it is not so strictly attached to fur as the Barn 

 Owl, which hardly ever touches anything but 

 mice. This may account for the fact that 

 whereas small birds hardly ever worry a White 

 Owl, they will mob a Brown Owl whenever they 

 get the opportunity. It is rather a ludicrous 

 sight to see a dignified Tawny Owl being 

 hustled and bustled by a crowd of finches and 

 blackbirds, all chattering and scolding, until 

 the bird of the night fairly takes to its wings 

 and seeks refuge in some thick tree. If a 



