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number, and vary a little in size as well as contour. The Little Owl makes no nest, although an 

 accumulation of rubbish arising from its castings may be frequently found in the hole, which is 

 often made use of for a long time previously to incubation." 



Mr. Keulemans further writes to us : — 



" The Little Owl breeds at the end of May, in the hole of a tree or between the fissures or 

 cavities of walls in old houses or ruins. In other countries they are known to breed in slits of 

 rocks ; but in Holland they never do so, as there are no rocks in that country. The eggs are 

 from three to five in number, of a glossy white, and a little rounded ; there is only one brood in 

 the year. The young ones are covered with a greyish white down, and are blind till the seventh 

 day ; the iris in the young individuals is quite as bright as in the old ones ; if the iris appears 

 more or less dark, this should not be attributed to the age, but to the sex of the bird, the males 

 always having them of a darker yellow than the females. In the first plumage the young birds 

 are less distinctly spotted, more rufous, and the feathers softer. Old individuals, especially 

 females, sometimes turn lighter ; but in this case the spots remain distinct, which is not the case 

 in the young birds." 



Mr. W. Bridger thus describes the nesting and habits of the present bird near Valkenswaard, 

 in Holland: — 



" This Owl is by no means rare there ; a nest with one egg in was taken before my arrival. 

 The doctor of Leende, a village about four miles from Valkenswaard, whose name I do not 

 recollect, kindly allowed a nest of three eggs to be taken from a hole in a walnut-tree in his 

 garden ; he told me he was only too glad to get rid of them ; for the noise they made at night 

 was abominable. The eggs were taken on the 19th of June, and had been sat upon some time. 

 Two broods were, to my knowledge, hatched out in the village — one from a walnut-tree in a 

 garden, and the other from a hole in a church ; I heard of the latter on my return from the Loo, 

 where I had been to see the hawking. I was desirous of obtaining one or two young ones ; but 

 as the hole was at a considerable elevation, and extended a long way in, the only way to get 

 them, as Bots said, was to ' lime them.' We tried with two live young birds one evening ; but 

 either we arrived too late, or the young birds were not a delicacy; for we did not succeed. 

 However, on the 19th of June, a live mouse having with difficulty been obtained, we commenced 

 operations. Having noticed that the Owls generally perched in the early part of the evening on 

 an iron cross on the roof at the end of the church, we stuck a short stick with the mouse 

 attached by a string to it in the ground opposite ; at the side was stuck a twig whose three thin 

 branches, which were limed, spread over the mouse at a height of two or three inches. This 

 being arranged to our satisfaction, we lay at a little distance off, smoking our pipes and watching 

 the result. I had just bet Bots a bottle of his best that we should be again disappointed, when 

 we observed an Owl alight on the cross ; presently down he darted in the direction of the mouse. 

 " He's caught ! " was the exclamation ; and so it was, the Owl was caught and the bottle lost. Poor 

 little fellow ! he looked so patient, and seemed to implore so with his large upraised eyes, that we 

 almost felt sorry that he was caught. Another one was captured in the same manner about a 

 fortnight later ; and both these are now in the Zoological Gardens. I fed them on birds, which 

 they chiefly contributed to catch, thus : — In a field in which the herbage was short, to allow of the 

 Owl being seen, we would fix a low perch in the ground and tie the Owl to it, allowing him, 



