BARN OWL. 135 



nebulosum) is seen as early as the setting of the sun, flitting along the 

 edges of old fields, seeking to make its usual evening meal on it or carry 

 it off as food for its young. We were invited some years since to exam- 

 ine the nest of the American barn owl (Strix Americana) in the loft of 

 a sugar refinery in Charleston. There were several young of different 

 sizes, and we ascertained that the only food on which they were fed 

 was this Rat, to obtain which the old birds must have gone several 

 miles." (Quad. M". A., vol. i, 1851, p. 231.) 



The following extract from an article by Charles Dury is interesting 

 not only in showing to what extent the Barn Owl feeds on rats, but also 

 in pointing out its amicable relations with the domesticated pigeons: 



"In October just past Mr. Biggs observed several large birds iiy out 

 of the town hall in Glendale. Three of these w r ere killed and proved 

 to be Barn Owls. Mr. Keys also killed one. On October 15 I received 

 two specimens, male and female, that had been killed near Jones Sta- 

 tion. In the stomach of one was a mouse, and in the other was an 

 orthopterous insect, commonly called "Katydid" (Cyrtophylhis conca- 

 vus). October 16, Mr. Clifford Allen went to the town hall and placed 

 a ladder up to the tower and climbed up there. There were four owls 

 on a beam looking down at him, and one of these he shot. In this 

 specimen, which was a female, was a nearly grown rat, from which the 

 head had been bitten and the body SAvallowed entire. Mr. Allen closed 

 the trap-door leading to the tower, and on the 18th I went to Glendale 

 to examine the place. When Mr. Allen went up four owls flew out, 

 one of which was killed, a female. The stomach contained two mice. 

 On going up into the tower I was astonished at the sight presented. 

 The floor and ledges were covered with the cast-up pellets of the birds. 

 It is well known to ornithologists that all raptorial birds swallow much 

 indigestible matter, which is formed into balls in the stomach and 

 afterwards cast up. These are called pellets. In this case they were 

 by hundreds, and covered the floor several inches deep in places. I 

 examined many of them, and found them made up entirely of the hair 

 and bones of the smaller rodents, mostly mice. There must have been 

 the debris of several thousand mice and rats. But the strangest part 

 of the curious habitation was the flock of domestic pigeons that were 

 living seemingly on intimate terms with the owls and, judging from the 

 old pigeon nests, I presume the pigeons had actually nested and reared 

 young there. This seems to show the food of this owl to be almost ex- 

 clusively mice and rats, and proves it to be a species of the greatest eco- 

 nomic value." (Journ. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., vol, vi, pp. 237, 238.) 



Dr. John I. Northrop furnished the following note on the food of this 

 Owl at Andros Island, Bahamas : "On March 25 we found two young 

 ones not yet able to fly, and near by were the remains of the common 

 rat of this island (Mus rattus). As is usual with this species, there was 

 no nest, the birds resting on the ground. Around them for some dis- 

 tance the surface was covered with the rejected food balls, composed 



