GRABHAM: OWLS AND THEIR LONGEVITY. 13t 
Church as a young bird, for twenty-one years, and a savage old chap 
he was to the end of his days. He killed and ate several other Owls 
that we put in the same cage with him, and I have the marks on my 
hand now where he clawed me when he once got out, and I found 
him blinking away in the middle of a large pear tree, with all the 
birds in the neighbourhood chattering round him. He always had 
his tub every Sunday morning, curiously enough. All my Owls have 
been fond of bathing, and he lived on raw meat, small birds, moles, 
mice of various kinds, including shrews, bats, and young rats, and 
also on those of his own and allied species who were unfortunately 
put into his cage. The Tawny Owl, when wild, lives chiefly on 
mice, and I have seen them quartering at dusk a house-side covered 
with ivy, and putting their claws in and drawing forth out of his bed 
our old friend the ubiquitous sparrow. They breed in March, and 
I have found their eggs, which are large, in holes in trees and in 
quarries. In the large forests in Germany, where this Owl is pretty 
common, I have noticed that the birds are much greyer than ours, 
and somewhat larger. It is astonishing what small bodies Owls 
really have. They are so thickly clothed with feathers that this is 
not apparent till one comes to skin them. A very common mistake, 
which, unfortunately, is still perpetuated in many of our standard - 
_ works on Ornithology, and which many taxidermists who ought to 
know better will stick to, is to represent Owls, when perching, as 
having three toes in front and one behind. Ina state of nature or 
in captivity this is not so—two are in front and two behind. 
The Little Owl I have also kept for a year or two. It is fond of 
throwing itself into extraordinary attitudes, and is an amusing little 
dird tokeep. It is not indigenous to these islands, but at various 
times specimens have reached our shores from the Continent, where, 
in places, it is very common. ‘The late Charles Waterton turned 
some out at Walton, near Wakefield, and, more recently, the late 
Lord Lilford, in Northamptonshire, and Mr. St. Quintin, in our 
own county, have done the same, and these birds have established 
themselves and bred in hollow trees, ruins, etc. 
In conclusion, I would put in a plea for the Owls. They doa 
great deal of good and very little harm, and when the balance of 
Nature is destroyed, and birds of prey, etc., are exterminated, we 
ate bound to suffer, as witness the plague of field voles in Scotland 
a short time ago. Whenever I come across a keeper’s museum, with 
Owls and Kestrels gibbetted thereon, I always expostulate, and I am 
very glad to say that a more appreciative view is gaining ground 
with respect to the good done by these birds, not only -by game 
Preservers and sportsmen, but also by the keepers and farmers 
May 1897, i a 
