The White or Barn Owl, 6i 



to put away at least lialf-a-dozcu mice one after tlic other; digestion, too, is 

 marvellously rapid. .A tame White Owl, after it liad been fed up for the day, 

 nevertheless managed to swallow thirteen mice that unexpectedl)' arrived as a 

 present ! Besides the numbers of mice that they devour, many are also stored 

 away by the Owls in "larders" by the side of tlieir nests; representatives of four 

 distinct species of mice, all equally destructive to field and garden crops, were 

 found in a single nest ; and the pellets of Owls that liave been examined by 

 naturalists have been found to be composed, entireh' of the remains of mice, thus 

 proving the useful services rendered by these birds. Tame Owls, when food is 

 given to them and they are not hungry, will always secrete it in some corner. 



But in spite of the good performed by the Barn Owl there is, perhaps, hardl}-- 

 any other bird that is so persecuted, and so ungratefully repaid. When they 

 cannot find any other excuse keepers will say they kill them because they are 

 "unlucky!" There is no bird more commonly found stuffed and distorted in a 

 case in cottages and farm houses throughout the laud than this poor Owl, the 

 writer has always made it his endeavour to plead for and to protect. Then too, there 

 is the wretched fashion of turning the masks, wings, and tails of these birds into 

 fire-screens, and the still more senseless decoration of ladies' hats with their soft 

 and downy feathers. There is hardly any season of the j-ear when specimens of 

 the four common English Owls, and chiefl}' of the Bam Owl, maj- not be noticed 

 hanging up for sale in Leadenhall market, in London, and on inquiring for what 

 purpose they are bought, the answer has been given to the writer, " These, sir, 

 are fancy birds, people btiy them to have them stuffed." No wonder rats and 

 mice multiply', and in some parts of the country occasion great damage and loss, 

 when all the rural police who would have looked after them have been so foolishlv 

 removed ! The once familiar Barn Owl is now but too rarel}- seen fl3"ing low over 

 the hay-fields at dusk, and quartering them like a setter, everj' now and then 

 checking its flight to drop with fatal pounce upon its pre}- ; or beating the farm 

 buildings and rick 3'ards, next taking the round of the orchard fence, faithful!}' 

 performing its useful and valuable work that should bespeak its gi'ateful protection ! 



In severe winters, especiall}'' after long continued snow, numerous Barn Owls 

 perish from the cold and starvation ; and their frozen bodies, reduced to mere bone 

 and feather, may be picked up lying on the surface of the snow. In their 

 extremitA' the}- will enter houses for shelter, onl}' too often to be ejected b\- timid 

 and ignorant people who superstitiously regard them as bearers of ill luck ! These 

 Owls can only endure a temperate climate, and our winters are sometimes too 

 severe for them. 



Although usuall}- a recluse, preferring its "solitary reign" in some "i^y-mantled 



