3 28 The Keeper's Tree. 



with in Britain ought ever to be destroyed, for they do but little 

 damage to the game, and incalculable benefit to the agriculturist 

 and farmer, and yet we rarely see "a keeper's tree" without an old 

 owl or two (I do not know why of all birds the owl should always 

 be an "old owl" among our keepers and countrymen) decorating 

 its branches. 



There are but two species, however, common in Britain, and both 

 of these are so well known to every keeper and country lad, as to 

 need no description. These are the barn owl and the brown wood 

 owl. 



It is true the long-eared owl and the short-eared owl in some 

 districts and at some seasons are not so very rare. Of these the 

 short-eared owl is a summer migrant. Neither of these is so large 

 as the common brown owl. In the long-eared owl the horns or 

 ears on the forehead are very conspicuous. In this species the tail 

 is more than one inch shorter than the closed wings. In the 

 short-eared owl the horns are very short, and the tail is nearly level 

 with the closed wings. In the brown owl it is two inches longer. 



The great eagle owl and the snowy owl are neither of them ever 

 likely to grace the branches of a British keeper's tree, and if by 

 chance he should kill the hawk owl, in which the long-pointed tail 

 reaches nearly four inches beyond the wings, or any one of the 

 smaller species, he would, if he did not know exactly what it was 

 himself, be sure, for curiosity's sake at least, to take it to some 

 ornithological friend in his neighbourhood. 



The carrion crow, the magpie, and the jay, all come within the 

 list of vermin, and, I believe, these complete my list. 



Many foresters and keepers have an idea that woodpeckers do a 

 great deal of harm to the trees by boring them in search of insects. 

 This is not the case, for such insects as the woodpecker seeks after 

 are not found in healthy trees. As soon as ever the woodpecker is 

 seen feeding on a tree stem, it is a sure sign that the tree is sickly, 

 and will soon decay, and the sooner it comes down the better. 

 Sacrifice the tree, but spare the woodpecker, unless, indeed, it is 

 wanted as a specimen. 



