THE OWLS 231 



animal assailants, he has often sent them back whining 

 and half-blinded to their masters. 



I have read of one White Owl that was preserved as a 

 pet and given plenty of liberty, and whose owner had to 

 have him killed on account of his habit of viciously 

 flying at strangers. His last ofifence was attacking a pony. 

 "He dashed at it as it was coming towards the house. 

 Fastening on its nose with his claws, he bufleted the poor 

 beast with his wings to such an extent that it became 

 frantic." 



Finally the pony, with a quick toss of the head, flung 

 its tormentor to the ground. The Owl's leg was broken 

 in the fall, but " nothing daunted, the bird returned to the 

 attack, and grasping the pony's nose with his sound foot 

 he struck his sharp beak into the animal's face, and began 

 beating it afresh with his wings. He was at last torn 

 away by main force, and paid the penalty of his spiteful- 

 ness with his life." 



The White Owl gets its name from the pure white of 

 its breast, legs, and the greater part of its face ; the back 

 and wings being of a beautiful brown — orange-buflf, as 

 it has been termed. Its length is only about thirteen 

 inches. 



The usefulness of this little bird of prey is beyond 

 reckoning. It feeds on vermin — rats and mice and voles, 

 but mice chiefly — and does more to keep down those pests 

 than man accomplishes with all his cunning and all his 

 traps. As one naturalist says, " The number of mice 

 which a Barn Owl catches in a single night is truly 

 astonishing. Waterton states that the bird will bring a 

 mouse to its nest every twelve or fifteen minutes. A nest 

 in Avington Park in Hampshire (where the owner 

 protected owls) was found by us to have over forty freshly- 



