OWL PELLETS 11 



jerk of the head, throws it into the air, and catches 

 it by its head. A second jerk sends it, head fore- 

 most, down his throat, with the exception of the tail, 

 which remains hanging out for another minute or 

 two of appropriate contemplation, when, on a third 

 jerk, it disappears. 



Another peculiarity of the barn owl may be 

 mentioned here. Alone, I believe, among birds, 

 she sometimes lays her eggs not continuously, day 

 by day, but at considerable intervals of time. At 

 first, it may be, she lays two eggs, on which she 

 will sit for a week or so ; then, two more ; and 

 then, when she has hatched the first two, perhaps, 

 another three. So that you may find fresh eggs, 

 hard seated eggs, and young birds, fairly grown, 

 in the same nest. What is the reason of this 

 peculiarity a peculiarity almost as strange as that 

 of the cuckoo, which by laying its eggs in another 

 bird's nest, and leaving them to be hatched and 

 reared by the foster-parent, has attracted universal 

 attention, and seems to make a real breach in the 

 continuity of Nature ? Is it that by leaving the 

 later eggs to be hatched, in part at least, by the 

 warmth of the young birds, she has more leisure, 

 by an all-night's absence, to satisfy the cravings of 

 her voracious brood ? The owlets, thickly covered 



