168 THE BARN OWL. 



small mammals on which it feeds; uttering at times a 

 harsh sound, and at others a plaintive howl, which almost 

 justify its ancient character as a prophet of evil. It is 

 not, however, the 'proper screech owl. That appellation 

 belongs of right to the Barn Owl, or Howlet, which is so 

 common in Great Britain and in most parts of Europe. 

 Its plumage is remarkably full, soft, and downy, and its 

 shades of reddish yellow and ash gray are very delicate. 

 Tliough it has a disproportionately large head, it may 

 fairly be considered a handsome bird, and by no means 

 deserves the unsavoury reputation which, in common 

 with most of its congeners, it has obtained. It loves to 

 steal into the barn or farm-steading, and pounce upon an 

 unlucky mouse, after the fashion so well described by 

 Butler :— 



"While moonlight, silvering all the walls, 

 Through every mouldering crevice falls, 

 Tipping with white his powdery plume, 

 As shades or shifts the changing gloom, 

 The owl that, watching in the barn, 

 Sees the mouse creeping in the corn, 

 .Sits still, and shuts his round blue eyes. 

 As if he slept, until he spies 

 The little beast within his stretch, 

 Then starts, and seizes on the wTetch." 



The barn owl, however, like others of its kind, is a terrible 

 foe to the smaller members of the Bird World. It carries 

 off the young partridges and pheasants, as well as finches 

 and fly-catchers; and the good that it does in the one 

 direction is almost counterbalanced by the ill it does in 

 another. 



The superstitions of which it has so long been the 

 object probably originated in its nocturnal habits, its love 



