VIII 

 THE OWL, BIRD OF NIGHT 



THERE is not a tumble-down barn in the country that 

 does not shelter good material for a naturalist's 

 note-book. Take it all in all the old shacks are the most 

 productive. If there is a hole and a snug corner some 

 wren or bluebird has likely climbed in and built a home. 

 If it be near town some English sparrow has perhaps been 

 living there all winter, and, at the first sign of spring, 

 has begun carrying in grass and sticks. Or, if the barn is 

 very shaky and leaky, it may make a home for an owl. 



The Barn Owl (Strix pratincola) Is not hard to please 

 when he needs a nesting place. He takes the steeple of a 

 church, an old hollow sycamore along the creek, or a cave 

 in the mountains. I know of one pair that has lived for 

 years in the tower of a court-house. The town clock just 

 below the nest must have been a nuisance at first during 

 the day-sleep, but it was likely taken as something that 

 could not be helped, as we take the clang and rumble of 

 the street-cars under our windows at night. 



Years ago our nearest neighbor got a pair of pigeons, 

 sawed two holes up in the corner of his barn and nailed 

 up a soap box for them. The pigeons disappeared one 

 day and the next spring a pair of barn owls moved in. 

 That was seven or eight years ago, but the old dusty box 

 in the gable is still rented to the same pair. I have no 

 doubt they will stay as long as the barn lasts. 



