142 BIRDS OF THE PLAINS 



owl. The back and upper plumage are pale grey. 

 The tail is buff, and there is a good deal of buff scat- 

 tered about the rest of the plumage; it is on this 

 account that the bird is called flammea. 



The barn owl is, I believe, common in all parts of 

 India, but it is not often seen owing to its strictly 

 nocturnal habits. It ventures not forth into the dazzling 

 light of day as does that noisy little clown, the spotted 

 owlet (Athene brama). Should it happen to be abroad 

 in daylight the crows make its life a burden. Friend 

 Corvus is a very conservative individual. He sets his 

 face steadfastly against any addition to the local fauna. 

 As he seldom or never sees the barn owl, he does not 

 include it among the birds of his locality ; so that when 

 one does show its face, the crows proceed to mob it. 

 Their efforts are well seconded by the small fry among 

 birds, who seem instinctively to dislike the whole owl 

 tribe. 



During the day the barn owl sleeps placidly in the 

 interior of a decayed tree, or in a tomb, mosque, temple, 

 or ruin, or even in the secluded verandah of a bungalow. 

 The last place of abode is unsatisfactory from the point 

 of view of the owl, for Indian servants display an 

 antipathy towards it quite as great as that shown by the 

 crows. They believe that the owls bring bad luck, and 

 are in this respect not one whit more foolish than 

 ignorant folk in other parts of the world. This useful 

 and amusing bird is everywhere regarded with super- 

 stitious dread by the uneducated. 



It lives almost exclusively on rats, mice, shrews, and 

 other enemies of the farmer. And as an exceptional 



