72 WILD LIFE IN THE TREE TOPS 



thrushes, missel thrushes, water voles (or water rats), various varieties of mice, 

 frogs, and one bullfinch. I have not yet discovered the remains of any game 

 bird! 



I am indeed inclined to think that the Little Owl would not succeed in 

 taking young game birds unless they were being reared under artificial conditions, 

 when they would become so accustomed to the sight of the man who feeds 

 them that they would be in the habit of running into the open to meet him, 

 and in fact of spending the majority of their time upon grass that is not much 

 longer than that of a normal tennis court. Under such conditions the Little 

 Owl, or any other bird of prey, would not have the least difficulty in picking 

 one of them up — nor scruples about returning for more. 



But should a Little Owl attempt a raid upon a family of partridges in 

 the wild state, his presence would almost certainly be detected by the old 

 bird, who, by giving the alarm cry, would cause her youngsters to crouch motion- 

 less, or to vanish like lightning into the nearest cover. 



If, however, the owl should come upon the family so suddenly as to seize 

 one of them before they realized what is happening, the mother would without 

 hesitation rush in to the rescue, and beat the miscreant off. 



I am convinced of this because I have on several occasions seen a trained 

 merlin attempt to ' bind ' to a half-grown partridge, and have noticed with 

 what determination the rest of the covey turn and set upon the aggressor — 

 invariably sending him about his business. 



Since the rearing-field is, to-day at least, a thing of the past, the Little 

 Owl has little chance of dining off a brace of young partridges. 



As to photography of the Little Owl, it is well for the enthusiast to remem- 

 ber that the birds will not, in all probability, be much on the move in the middle 

 of the day ; and, when all of the usual preliminaries have been duly adjusted, 

 he had best make up his mind to endm-e some trying moments, and some 

 monotonous hours. For the birds may not come near the place until evening, 

 and the photographer may begin to wonder whether they have decided to 

 discontinue the issue of rations during daylight hours. After all the owls can 

 feed perfectly well in semi or complete darkness, and there is no reason why 

 they should visit the nest simply because the photographer would like them to 

 do so. 



However, with luck, one of the owls, may unexpectedly put in an appear- 

 ance, and her coming will be heralded by an excited clamour in which most 

 of the small birds of the neighbourhood seem to join^ — missel thrushes and 

 chaffinches perhaps predominate, but blackbirds, hedge-sparrows, tits, and so 

 on, make a good second. 



It is strange how any movement on the part of the owl will excite any 

 small birds that may be mobbing it ; and how quickly the commotion subsides 

 if it should remain still for a while. Such a period of quiet may ensue that 



