266. BRITISH BIRDS. [vdl. vii. 



This summer (1913), however, though the old birds were 

 frequently seen about and heard screeching at night, I was 

 surprised to see no sign of the nesting-hole being used by 

 them. I have an idea that a pair of Little Owls occupied 

 it, but owing to the smallness of the entrance, I could 

 not make sure of this. It wbs not until quite the end of 

 October or beginning of November, that I first heard young 

 Barn-Owls snoring in the nest ; and at the time of writing 

 (29th December) they are still there. Every evening I 

 hear their loud " snoring " from the house — often even as 

 I lie in bed. That they are still actually in the nest-hole 

 I cannot assert : for the reason stated, it is difficult to 

 make sure on this point. Listening below the tree, how- 

 ever, I feel sure that often, at any rate, the noise comes 

 actually from the nest-hole. At all events, it comes always 

 either from the nest-tree or from one or other of two trees 

 which stand adjacent to it ; and below these three trees 

 I frequently find both cast pellets and dropped young rats 

 — never mice. The pellets, too, are composed almost entirely 

 of remains of young rats, whereas most other pellets I have 

 examined have been composed maialy of the remains of 

 mice and shrews. 



That the " snoring " comes from young birds, I feel no 

 doubt. I believe that the young alone snore. Sharpe and 

 Dresser's statement {Birds of Europe, V., p. 246) that the 

 adult both screeches and snores, and that occasionally the 

 young in the nest also snore, seems to me incorrect. Accord- 

 ing to my experience, the young, whilst in and about the 

 nest, always snore. The adults may do so at times, but I 

 doubt it. In any case, I still often hear the old birds 

 screeching round the house. 



Considering the sheltered nature of the Barn-Owl's usual 

 nesting-site, and the fact that (except during severe frosts) 

 its food-supply is probably fairly equal the year round, it 

 seems probable that this bird experiences fewer incon- 

 veniences than most birds would from nesting during winter. 

 Yet, even so, there seems little to account for its doing so 

 from time to time. Miller Christy. 



[The assertion in the Birds of Europe is, of course, in- 

 correct ; but the article in question is evidently not written 

 on personal knowledge, and contains other equally inaccurate 

 statements, as, for example, that it " raises several broods 

 in the year," and is " strictly nocturnal " in habits. Records 

 of Barn-Owls with young in November in Norfolk will be 

 found in the Zoologist, 1908, p. 133, etc., and similar cases have 

 also been recorded from the Continent. — ^F. C. R. JouRDAtN.] 



