ewaP. Vit.) DOMESTICATED OWL. 65 
are very common in the shady fir-woods. I often see this bird 
sitting on a branch close to the stem of the tree, and depending 
on the exact similitude of his colour to that of the bark, he sits 
motionless with his bright golden eye watching earnestly every 
movement I make. If he fancies himself observed, and likely 
to be molested, down he dashes, flies a hundred yards or so, and 
then suddenly pitches again. His long ears and bright eyes 
give him a most unbirdlike appearance as he sits watching one. 
As soon as evening comes on, the owl issues forth in full life and 
activity, and in the woods here may be seen and heard in all 
directions, sitting on the topmost branch of some leafless tree, 
generally a larch or ash (these two being his favourites), where 
he hoots incessantly for an hour together, swelling his throat 
out, and making the eccentric motions of a pouter pigeon. “They 
breed in rocks, ivy, or in the deserted nest of a magpie. 
T do not know why, but I never could succeed in rearing one 
of these birds—they have invariably died, without any apparent 
cause, before their first year was over. Not so with the tawny 
owl. One of these birds has been in my kitchen-garden for 
three years. ‘Though his wing is sometimes cut, he can fly suffi- 
ciently to get over the wall, but seldom ventures beyond the 
adjoining flower-garden or orchard. From habit or tameness 
this bird seems to pay little regard to sunshine or shade, sitting 
during the daytime as indifferently in the most open and exposed 
places as in the more shaded corners: he is quite tame too, and 
answers to the call of the children. He hoots as vigorously at 
midday as at night, and will take a bird from my hand when 
offered to him. Although his flight has been impeded by his 
wing being cut, he seems to have entirely cleared the garden of 
mice, with which it was much overrun. Though a light bird, 
and not apparently very strongly built, his sharp claws and bill 
enable him to tear to pieces any crow or sea-gull that is offered 
+o him. When he has had his meal off some large bird of this 
kind, and has satisfied his appetite, he carries away and carefully 
hides the remainder, returning to it when again hungry. I de 
not know whether the owl, when at liberty in his native woods, 
has the same fox-like propensity to hide what he cannot eat. I 
have frequently heard this kind of owl hoot and utter another 
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