266 THE BARN OWL. 
owl is very small, as it only measures seven inches in length; the third 
primary feather is the longest. It lays from two to four white eggs in a 
simple nest made in a hollow tree or in a cleft in the rock 
THE best known of the British Owls is the WHIIE, BARN, or SCREECH 
OWL, by either of which appellations the bird is familiarly known over the 
whole of England. 
This delicately-coloured and soft-plumed bird is always found near human 
habitations, and is generally in the vicinity of farmyards, where it loves to 
dwell, not for the sake of devouring the young poultry, but of eating the 
various mice which make such havoc in the ricks, helds, and barns, The 
“feathered cat,” as this bird has happily been termed, is a terrible foe to 
mice, especially to the common field-mouse, great numbers of which are 
killed daily by a single pair of Owls when they are bringing up their young 
family. In the evening dusk, when the mice begin to stir abroad in search 
of a mole, the Owl starts in search of the mice, and ‘with noiseless flight 
quarters the ground ina sportsmanlike and systematic manner, watching with 
WilLlE, OR BARN OWL,—(Strix flammea.) 
its great round eyes every movement of a grass-blade, and catching with its 
sensitive ears every sound that issues from behind. Never a field-mouse can 
come within ken of the bird’s eye, or make the least rustling among the 
leaves within hearing of the Owl’s ear, that is not detected and captured. 
The claws are the instruments by which the Owl seizes its victim, and it does 
not employ the beak until it desires to devour the prey. 
This bird is easily tamed when taken young, and is a very amusing pet. 
If properly treated, and fed with appropriate diet, it will live for a consider- 
able time without requiring very close attendance. Even if it be set at 
liberty, and its wings permitted to reach their full growth, it will voluntarily 
remain with its owner, whom it recognizes with evident pleasure, evincing its 
dislike of strangers by a sharp hiss and an impatient snap of the bill. 
The nest of this species is placed either in a hollow tree or in a crevice of 
some old building, where it deposits its white, rough-surfaced eggs upon a 
soft layer of dried “castings.” These nests have a most ill-conditioned and 
penetrating odour, which taints the hand which is introduced, and cannot be 
removed without considerable care and several lavations, The young are 
