BIRDS OF PREY. IO3 



of insects, constitute their principal food. They have frequently been accused of attacking Pigeons, 

 but this we believe is not the case. 



So adroit and rapid are the manoeuvres of these Owls when hungry, that their victims have 

 but small chance of escape, and we would therefore warn such of our readers as are tempted to 

 try the effect of domestication upon them to keep a very sharp watch indeed upon any other 

 feathered pets that may be in the same house. A friend of Dr. Brehm's, after endeavouring 

 to tame one of these birds for about a week, ventured on the strength of its good training to leave 

 it for one single minute in his dark room, while he hurried away to obtain a light ; when, lo, upon 

 his return he beheld the Owl behind a stove, quietly finishing the remains of his pet Linnet, which it 

 had seized, killed, and more than half devoured in that short space of time ! This same Owl would 

 often eat as many as fifteen mice during the day. In Spain a strange idea is very prevalent respecting 

 this species, it being supposed to enter the churches and consume the olive oil employed in the lamps 

 by which those buildings are lighted. For our own part we believe that such a charge is quite 

 unfounded, and that the Owl in this case is no more guilty of the offence, than the terrible cat 

 facetiously described as working so much havoc in English kitchens. The Spaniards make use of the 

 body of this bird extensively in medicine, after it has been soaked in oil. According to Pennant 

 " the Monguls of Tartary pay the Barn Owls almost divine honours, because they attribute to one of 

 them the preservation of Ghenghis Khan, the founder of their empire. That prince, with his small 

 army, happened to be surprised and put to flight by his enemies ; when forced to conceal himself in a 

 little coppice, an Owl settled on the bush under which he was hid, and induced his pursuers not to 

 search there, as they thought it impossible that any man could be concealed in a place where that 

 bird would perch." 



It was formerly supposed that the Barn Owls laid their eggs about April, but recent obser- 

 vations have proved this statement to be incorrect, The breeding season really commences in the 

 autumn, and during this period the happy pair testify their love and devotion to each other by 

 loud and constant cries, as they fly sportively together around and over the towers and turrets 

 near which they have taken up their abode — nest there is none, the young family being reared 

 at the bottom of a hole, or in some retired corner. The nestlings are reared upon mice, and 

 are most carefully tended by their parents, who nurse their progeny so devotedly that they have 

 frequently been known to carry food to them for weeks or even months, after they have been 

 captured and shut up in a cage. 



