110 FOOD OF THE WHITE OR BARN OWL. 



a terrible foe to mice, especially to the common field-mouse, great numbers of which are 

 killed daily by a single pair of Owls when they are bringing up their young family. In 

 the evening dusk, when the mice begin to stir abroad in search of a mole, the Owl starts 

 in search of the mice, and with noiseless flight quarters the gromid in a sportsmanlike and 

 systematic manner, watching with its great round eyes every movement of a grass-blade, 

 and catching with its sensitive ears every sound that issues from behind. Never a field- 

 mouse can come within ken of the bird's eye, or make the least rustling among the leaves 

 within hearing of the Owl's ear, that is not detected and captured. The claws are the 

 instruments by which the Owl seizes its victim, and it does not employ the beak until it 

 desires to devour the prey. 



It is curious that the Owl should have two modes of eating, which, as far as my own 

 experience goes, are invariably followed. If the bird has caught a mouse and is going to 

 eat it, the mouse is first bitten smartly across the back so as to destroy all life, and when 

 it hangs motionless from the bird's beak, it is thrown up into the air in a most adroit 

 manner, so as to fall with its head downwards. The Owl then catches the little quadruped 

 in such a manner that its head falls into the bird's mouth, where it hangs for a few 

 seconds. A sharp toss of the head then sends the whole of the mouse down the Owl's 

 throat with the exception of the tail, which hangs out of one side of the beak, generally 

 the left side, and is then rolled about just as a boy rolls a stick of sweetmeats between Ms 

 lips. After carrying on this process for two or three minutes, the Owl again jerks its 

 head, and the mouse vanishes wholly from sight. But when the Owl has to deal with a 

 bird, it eats it after the manner of the hawks, partially plucking it, and tearing it to pieces 

 with its beak before swallowing it. 



A cat with which I am well acquainted always follows the example of the Owl in its 

 method of eating prey. If it catches a mouse, she disposes of it without ceremony, 

 beginning at the head and gradually eating towards the tail ; but if she has captured a 

 bird, she places her feet upon its body, and with her teeth seizes the feathers and 

 deliberately pulls them out before she will attempt to eat the carcase. It may be that 

 while the Owl is twisting and turning the mouse in its mouth, it may be lubricating its 

 skin in order to admit of its easier passage down the throat. 'The feathers of birds are too 

 stiff and absorbent to admit of this process, and are therefore removed by the Owl before 

 it swallows its prey. 



Some doubts have been raised respecting the bird-killing propensities of the Barn Owl, 

 many writers having asserted that it never kills adult birds, and that at the worst it only 

 takes a young finch or so out of the nest. Now, as my own Owl was always delighted 

 with a full-grown bird, and proceeded to eat it in a very business-like manner, it seemed 

 to me as if the process were by no means a new one, and these suspicions were confirmed 

 by some " castings " of a Barn Owl which were sent to me, and which contained, among 

 other matters, the bones of birds and an entire skull of a full-grown sparrow. Since that 

 time, I have seen several accounts of similar objects being discovered in the "castings," 

 and it is rather a curious fact that the skull is always unbroken. Generally, the " castings" 

 are composed of the bones and skins of mice, together with the hard portions of various 

 beetles, mostly in the specimens which I have examined belonging to the genera Carabus, 

 Abax, Agonum, and Steropus. 



Sometimes the Owl has been detected in robbing the pigeons' nests of their young ; but 

 such conduct seems to be very exceptional, as there are many instances on record where 

 the Owl has actually inhabited the same cote with the pigeons without touching their 

 young or disturbing the peace of the parents. This Owl is also an experienced fisher, and 

 has been seen to drop quietly upon the water, and return to its nest bearing in its claws a 

 perch which it had captured. 



This bird is easily tamed when taken young, and is a very amusing pet. If properly 

 treated, and fed with appropriate diet, it will live for a considerable time without 

 requiring very close attendance. Even if it be set at liberty, and its wings permitted to 

 reach their full growth, it will voluntarily remain with its owner, whom it recognises with 

 evident pleasure, evincing its dislike of strangers by a sharp hiss and an impatient snap 

 of the bill. One of these Owls, belonging to a friend, was, although a sufficiently amusing 



