Birds of the Field 



in safety. The Owl is probably a more deadly 

 enemy than the Kestrel, dropping noiselessly and 

 unerringly on its prey. If we marvel at the 

 Kestrel's power of sight, what shall we say of 

 that of the Owl, which pursues the same quarry 

 in the dark ? 



Some years ago when corn was threshed 

 with the flail, mice became such a pest that 

 almost every barn had its Owl. More recently, 

 however, they have been subject to much per- 

 secution, and their ranks are terribly thinned. 

 Fortunately, there is proof positive for anyone 

 willing to be convinced that the Owl really does 

 far more good than harm. The bird has the 

 habit of casting up all the more indigestible parts 

 of its food in "pellets," and an examination of 

 these establishes the bird's innocence. The Zoologist 

 for May 1897, giving the result of the investi- 

 gation of 54 pellets, states that they contained 

 bones of 8 sparrows, I blue tit, I rat, 14 house- 

 mice, I water vole, 60 field voles, 3 bank voles, 

 49 shrews, 3 water shrews, and I lesser shrew. 

 Another feature of these pellets is the presence of 

 the burnished wing-cases of various beetles, and 

 this together with the account quoted should give 

 a fair insight into the bird's real diet. 



The habit of hovering already referred to is 

 practically peculiar to the Kestrel. No other 

 bird sustains the feat for so long a time, and this 

 at once distinguishes it from the Sparrow Hawk, 



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