184 OWLS. 



to the nest. Some idea may be formed of the num- 

 ber of mice destroyed by a pair of Barn-Owls, when 

 it is known that in the short space of twenty 

 minutes, the old birds carried food to their young 

 twelve times, thus destroying at least nearly forty 

 mice every hour during the time they continue 

 hunting; and as young Owls remain long in the 

 nest, many hundreds of mice must be destroyed in 

 the course of rearing them. 



If taken young, they may be tamed so far as to 

 eat out of the hand, and become, to a certain degree, 

 familiar ; but in their wild state even, they seem to 

 be sensible of kindness, and lose much of their shy- 

 ness, if never disturbed. A gentleman in Yorkshire, 

 Mr. Waterton, who has paid great attention to their 

 habits, gives a very interesting account of their mode 

 of life. He made a sort of dwelling for them, about 

 four feet square, on the ruins of an old gateway, and 

 trained some ivy round about, which soon concealed 

 it. In the stone-work, he fixed a thick oaken stick 

 for them to perch upon. In about a month after 

 every thing was ready, a pair of Barn-Ovvls came, 

 and established themselves there. This succeeded 

 so well, that he formed some other similar places, 

 all of which were in like manner soon occupied by 

 pairs of Owls. That in the old gateway was so con- 

 trived, that he could examine it whenever he pleased; 

 and as they were never injured, the Owls soon grew 

 confident, and betrayed no fear when strangers 

 mounted a ladder to look in. One rather unexpected 

 piece of information was learned from constant in- 

 spection, namely, that these birds, unlike others, 

 seem to breed at all seasons, as he found a young 



