BIRDS OF THE NIGHT 201 



as a whole, for birds are like the human race, 

 and no two behave exactly the same, there being 

 as much individuality among animals as among 

 people. Once in a way you may meet with an 

 owl of tastes differing widely from its fellows, 

 and an old friend, a keen naturalist, knew one 

 Tawny Owl that went fishing regularly ! Nearly 

 every afternoon he saw the bird sitting on a 

 stump by a stream-side watching the water, 

 into which it would suddenly drop, flying up again 

 with a fish in its claws. As further confirmation 

 of the fishing propensities of this species, I shall 

 presently tell how a tame Brown Owl caught all 

 the newts with which an aquarium was stocked. 

 To return to owls and pheasants, the legends 

 related by keepers may have arisen from the 

 fact that owls often haunt the covert-side fields 

 in which pheasant rearing goes on, for these 

 usually abound in mice and rats that have come 

 to share the food intended for the birds. In 

 places where the Little Owl is common, ill- 

 deeds committed by the smaller bird often get 

 laid to the credit of the two bigger species, 

 for in all the foregoing remarks I have included 

 the Long-Eared Owl, which is certainly as innocent 

 of evil-doing as the Brown. That the Little 

 Owl is a murderous little wretch there seems 

 no doubt, for there is ample evidence that fur 

 and feather come alike to it, that it hunts by 

 day as well as by night, and will attack any- 

 thing and everything that it meets with. 

 But, as it is only a recent introduction in this 



