OWLS. 291 



allowed the free use of their wings. In the day-time they 

 sometimes snore as loud as a plethoric gentleman of the 

 olden time. Some naturalists say that this snoring is the 

 complaint of the young in the nest for food. How conies 

 it, then, that my two old ones, which have as much 

 food as they can consume, are guilty of these nursery 

 manners ? 



I have before noticed that the white owl comes out 

 earlier than the brown, and may frequently be seen hunting 

 for prey whenever the sun's glare is a little mellowed by 

 the first shade of evening. Their eyes, not being so large 

 as the ivy owl's, may collect fewer rays in the darkness, 

 but this is made up by a clearer vision in light. They are 

 evidently more expert mousers than the brown, which may 

 in part account for the latter's destructiveness among 

 young game. I recollect nearly all the young pigeons in 

 my father's dove-cot being harried by a pair of brown owls. 

 It was some months before the robbers were discovered. 



The wings of the ivy owl are not so long in proportion 

 to its body and tail as those of the white ; neither is its 

 flight so buoyant, although equally soft and spectre-like. 

 It is thus less formed for beating a large extent of country 

 for mice, and must often content itself with promiscuous 

 feeding. Mice, on the contrary, seem to be almost the 

 exclusive food of the barn owl ; and he is a lucky farmer 

 whose barn is tenanted by them. Some aver that the 

 young will die unless they have a constant supply of mice. 

 1 have two living proofs against this assertion, which were 

 brought up principally upon raw meat. 



