90 IN THE ACADIAN LAND. 



enough to fill up the ranks where the adult 

 birds perish in one way and another. If the 

 young owls can get through the first year they 

 will be over the most dangerous ground, but 

 there is a point when they demand great quan- 

 tities of food and yet are not old enough to get 

 it for themselves. The parent birds are often 

 hard driven to furnish enough to meet their 

 own wants, and enough for their gluttonous 

 babies. There, doubtless, is the pinch where 

 some of them perish. So far as we can see, 

 there is no need to protect owls. They are a 

 scourge on small useful birds, and a shotgun 

 can be employed to advantage on them all. 



