Barn Owl. 109 



it is quite guiltless of touching poultry or pigeons, notwithstand- 

 ing the prevailing opinion to the contrary, and the deeply rooted 

 prejudice to the much maligned bird in consequence. It is, 

 probably, still to be found in every village in the county, though 

 its nocturnal habits conduce to screen it from the vulgar gaze : 

 during the day it reposes with closed eyes in the retreat it has 

 selected, but as twilight comes on it issues forth in silence, 

 making no perceptible noise as it strikes the air with its woolly 

 wings, but ever and anon screeching out its note of joy and wild 

 and startling notes, as it has done since the days of Ovid : 



' Est illis strigibus nomen, sed nominis hujus 

 Causa quod horrendi stridere nocte solent.' 



That they screech and scream horribly there can be no question. 

 Gilbert White thought that they did not hoot at all ; but further 

 observations have determined that occasionally, though rarely, 

 they do indulge in a howl which would not disgrace the Tawny 

 Owl.* The hard breathing or snoring generally attributed to 

 them seems to belong to the young birds alone, which give 

 audible tokens of their somnolency as you approach their 

 nursery. There is one remarkable habit in the nesting of this 

 species related by Yarrell, Hewitson, and others, and of which 

 the Rev. G. Marsh was on one occasion an eye-witness ; viz., that it 

 does not lay its full complement of eggs (usually four) in regular 

 daily succession, but that, after hatching two eggs, it will lay 

 two more, the latter being hatched in.due course by the warmth 

 of their elder brethren ; while a third laying often ensues, which 

 becomes hatched as the preceding, the same nest thus contain- 

 ing at one time young birds in three separate stages of advance 

 towards maturity ; an admirable provision of nature, as Hewitson 

 remarks, whereby the old birds are enabled the more readily to 

 supply the demands of their voracious progeny. 



If Ulysses and ^Eneas are to be accounted especially fortunate 

 in having their wanderings described by such able pens as those 

 of Homer and Virgil, we may in like manner congratulate the 

 ' Barn ' Owl on having secured for itself the very able champion- 

 s' Harting's edition of White's * Selborne,' and his ' Birds of Middlesex.' 



