io THE BIRDS OF BERKS AND BUCKS. 



TAWNY OWL (Syrnium aluco). Local name, Brown 

 Owl. A numerous species in the wooded districts. 

 The Duke of Buccleuch's gamekeeper states that 

 there are many of these birds in the Ditton woods, 

 where they breed sparingly : of course, like all other 

 members of this unlucky family of birds, they are 

 shot down as vermin. That they do occasionally 

 carry off a leveret or a rabbit I do not deny, but it 

 appears to me that they do much more good than 

 harm. 



Tawny Owls are often shot in Windsor Forest, 

 where they breed. If this bird were not so nocturnal 

 in its habits, there is little doubt but that many 

 more would be destroyed. Its loud melancholy hoot 

 is likely to awaken a vague, uncomfortable feeling 

 in the hearer, if he be not accustomed to such sounds ; 

 and should he be walking through a churchyard, 

 or some ancient ruin at the time, the note of this 



' Ominous and fearful owl of death ' * 



cannot fail to be associated with the idea of dark 

 deeds and ghosts. 



Some ornithologists have noted that it is the 

 habit of this species, and of the Barn Owl, to 

 feed on fish : I have never known this to be 

 the case, but Mr. Watertonf states that some 

 years ago, on a fine evening in the month of 



* Shakespeare's Henry VI. Part I. Act iv. Scene 2. 

 + 'Essays on Natural History,' p. 13. 



