TWO BROWN OWLS 71 



It is an instance which shows how difficult it would be to discover a Little 

 Owl's nest by attempting to flush the bird. 



When the young Little Owls are hatched — little fat creatures they are 

 with chubby feet and red-rimmed eyes — ^their parents work hard to supply 

 them with food ; and, like the Buzzard, usually provide them with far more 

 than they can possibly consume. 



Even during the day the work is sometimes continued, and then each 

 journey to and from the nest is attended by an excited throng of chaffinches, 

 tits, missel-thrushes, blackbirds, and so forth ; each one, it would seem, endeav- 

 ouring to shout the others down, and the whole collection making enough 

 noise to attract to the spot every gamekeeper within a radius of a mile. 



One finds the Little Owl nesting in all kinds of queer places in these days : 

 in hollow elm, oak, beech, or apple trees ; in holes in disused buildings, or even 

 down rabbit earths, and yet the bird is not by any means easily photographed, 

 for it seems invariably to nest in a dark hollow, which it is loth to leave, and 

 also it has a most amazing habit — when its suspicions are aroused — of suddenly 

 standing bolt upright, and then of squatting down just as suddenly on to its 

 perch again. 



As a rule the Little Owl's eggs — from four to six in number — are laid on 

 the dry chips of wood and castings, which are usually at the bottom of the 

 hole. The castings are generally quite small, and are composed of mouse 

 fur, feathers, and numerous beetles' cases ; although later in the season, 

 when the young are feathering, much larger quarry is taken, for the nest is 

 then littered with the remains of blackbirds, starhngs, moles, and young rabbits. 



I noticed, during the past season, when, by the way, there was an unusual 

 number of young rabbits, that the Little Owls fed quite largely upon the smaller 

 ones, and although they seem always to prefer a field mouse, or a mole, they 

 have no hesitation in taking a small rabbit if the opportunity should occur. 



It is "a strange fact that each pair of owls invariably has a ' larder ' 

 quite close to the nest, in which supplies for the next day or so are stored. 

 Sometimes such a ' larder ' will be situated in a hole in the same tree, and 

 some few feet from the actual nesting-hole. At others, it will be in a hole in 

 another tree close by, or in a rabbit hole not far away : whilst in yet other 

 instances it may be in the same hole as that in which the eggs are laid, but 

 in a specially reserved corner. 



The Little Owl, like the Tawny, or Long-eared, seems to trouble little 

 about plucking the food as hawks do, although it often pulls out the long 

 wing and tail feathers of winged quarry. As a rule the victims are swallowed 

 in the manner which will cause least trouble, and any feathers that happen 

 to be adhering to the selected mouthful are swallowed with the rest. 



Amongst the victims comprising the larders I have discovered rats, 

 mice, young rabbits, robins, sparrows, greenfinches, starhngs, blackbirds. 



