Co British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



the inner webs chiefly white ; the tail is buff, with five transverse gre}- bars ; tlie 

 under parts are white, sometimes with a few dark spots ; the facial disks are white, 

 with a rusty yellow patch near the eye ; the ruff is reddish yellow, tipped with brown ; 

 the beak is white ; irides black. The whole length is about fourteen inches. 

 The female resembles the male, but is slightly darker on the upper parts, and is 

 considerabl}- larger. Young birds are a little darker than the adults. Varieties 

 are commonly met with ha\-ing the yellow of the upper parts more largely inter- 

 spersed with white, giving a mottled appearance ; the tail is occasionally pure 

 white throughout ; and dark birds occur having all the under parts fawn colour, 

 with dark spots, and the upper parts blacker. 



Other common names for this species are the Screech Owl, and the Church 

 Owl. 



The body of the Bam Owl is ver}?- light compared to its bulk, rendering its 

 flight buoyant and somewhat unsteady. When come upon suddenl}- in its roosting 

 place in a comer beneath the roof of some shed it will assume ridiculous postures, 

 throwing itself almost upon its back, hissing and snapping its beak, and seeking 

 to defend itself with its claws, which are capable of inflicting an ugly scratch. 



There is no more useful bird to the farmer than the Barn Owl, and its value 

 was full}- appreciated by former builders of barns who always left an Owl's window, 

 i.t\ an opening in the wall below the roof to afford the Owl an entrance to deal 

 with the rats and mice harbouring within. In destroying Owls with their guns 

 and cruel pole-traps, keepers, who ignorantly credit them with devouring their 

 young Pheasants, have proved but poor friends to agriculturists. The writer who 

 now resides in a well- wooded district, highly preserved, not long ago had an 

 exemplification of this when a neighbouring farmer threshed out a big rick of 

 wheat, and found it swarming with mice that had either devoured or damaged a 

 large portion of the grain. Close at hand stood an ancient ivy-covered church 

 tower, which would certainl}' have provided a home, could they have escaped 

 persecution, to the useful birds whose vigilance would have prevented the devas- 

 tations of the mice. The Barn Owl feeds almost exclusively upon rats and mice 

 and destroys a great number of these mischievous pests, especially when there are 

 Owlets to be fed, at which season Waterton noted that a mouse is brought to the 

 nest every twelve minutes. This was out- done by a pair of Barn Owls watched 

 by Lord Lilford who were seen to come to the nest with food " seventeen times 

 in half an hour by the clock ! " It sometimes varies its dietar}' with small birds, 

 bats, moles, beetles, and fish. A tame White Owl, long in possession of the 

 writer, was verj^ fond of small trout that it invariably bolted tail first. Mice are 

 swallowed whole, and the capacity of the Owl's stomach is great, enabling it easily 



