62 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



tower," instances are sometimes met with of the Barn Owl dwelling in society, in 

 numbers sufficient to warrant the designation of an " Owlery." The writer kncAv 

 of certain old cottages, just beneath a beautiful Henry VII church tower, which 

 had all their roofs communicating, and these were tenanted by such a number of 

 Bam Owls that the cottagers at last rose against them and ejected them, being 

 disturbed b}- their strange noises, and some thirty or fort}' were expelled. 



A country house in North Devon had its roof similarly occupied by a society 

 of Bam Owls, and here, too, the birds were voted a nuisance, and were driven out. 

 There are other species of Owls that are known occasionally to congregate. 



The Bam Owl begins to nest sometime in April, and has, in general, more 

 than one brood. The eggs are elongate, rounded at the ends, and are pure white 

 in colour, smooth, and without gloss, usualty from three to six in number, but a 

 clutch of eight, and in another case even of ten has been met with ; they measure 

 from I'yS to i'53 inches in length, and from r"27 to i'i8 inches in breadth. A 

 hole in a tree, the top of the wall of a cattle shed, or bam, just beneath the 

 roof, a church tower, crevices in cliffs, both inland and b^^ the sea, ivy covered 

 ruins, dove-cotes, and old chimneys, are among the usual sites chosen for depositing 

 the eggs ; no nest is made, and it is a usual thing for the eggs to be laid at 

 intervals ; first two are laid and incubated, and when the young are hatched two 

 more eggs are laid, and these, in turn, are helped in incubation by the warm down 

 of the Owlets squatting upon them ; then other eggs follow in succession, so that 

 there may be found in the same nest Owlets nearly fledged, others in down, eggs 

 partly incubated, and the addled egg that is rarely absent. 



*rhe note of the Barn Owl is a loud shriek uttered by night when the bird 

 is on wing. While gathering moths f)ioctuaJ off the sallow-blooms at night by 

 the light of a lantern, the writer has been startled by a Barn Owl suddenly 

 delivering an unearthly shriek almost in his ear as, attracted by the light, it swept 

 softl}' by to see what was going on. 



The 3'onng birds make a snoring sound, and snap their beaks when in the 

 nest, and are covered with white down. 



When detected asleep upon its perch the Bam Owl presents a very wedge- 

 shaped appearance; the thick end of the wedge is provided by the head, the body 

 tapering off to the legs and tail. 



