164 LITTLE OWL. 



and one in Herefordshire, in 1838, now in the collection of 

 Mr. Chaffey. 



In Ireland it has not hitherto been known to have occurred. 



The Little Owl resorts to the vicinity of human dwellings, 

 and finds a retreat in the crannies of old walls and roofs, 

 churches and towers, as also in rocks, and the umbrageous 

 recesses of pine and other forests, woods, and plantations. It 

 is principally nocturnal in its habits, but takes wing occasionally 

 in the daytime in dull weather, as well as in the twilight. It 

 flies well, though its wings are not very long, but with an 

 up-and-down motion, like that of a Woodpecker. If taken 

 young there is no difficulty in rearing and taming it, and 

 it is much used on the Continent as a decoy for entrapping 

 small birds. 'That small birds,' says Bishop Stanley, 'gene- 

 rally speaking, have a great dislike to Owls, is clear, from 

 the uproar that takes place if an unfortunate Owl is dis- 

 turbed in the daytime, and compelled to appear in broad 

 daylight, pursued, as it is sure to be, by a host of them, 

 who persecute it by every means in their power. And we 

 may therefore conclude, that they either take it for their 

 real enemy, the Hawk, or that it does now and then, when 

 it can, feast upon any of them which may, by accident, fall 

 into its clutches. Of this antipathy the bird-catchers in 

 Italy know how to take advantage.' They are found alone 

 or in pairs, not in companies, and are pursued themselves by 

 hawks, rooks, magpies, and jays. During the breeding-season 

 they fly about, and chatter even in the daytime. 



It feeds 011 mice, as also on swallows and other small 

 birds, which it sometimes catches on the roost, bats, and 

 insects. According to Bewick, it is said to pluck the birds 

 before it eats them. 



The note resembles the syllables { keu, keu, keewit, or 

 koowit;' and when perched, 'pooh, pooh,' its voice being more 

 drawn out in the breeding-season. It is the opinion of one 

 author that the harsh and dissonant cry of the Owls is for 

 the purpose of alarming their prey, and giving them oppor- 

 tunity to get out of the way to prevent their too great 

 destruction. This is most surely a baseless theory, and runs 

 counter to the whole course of nature. I think I may venture 

 to assert that no peculiar faculty is given to any living 

 creature for the immediate benefit of any other kind but its 

 own for that of any other individual but itself. Mr. Mudie, 

 with rather more show of reason, suggests on the exact 



