294 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
by this Owl seems to be an invariable rule, so unlike the Barn 
Owl, where a large accumulation remains. 
13th.— 7 a.m.: Hind-quarters of young rabbit in nest. 
6.30 p.m.: no trace of any food remains. ‘Two pellets of Tawny 
Owl taken from the roosting-place of another pair placed in the 
nest. 8 p.m.: the male bird being mobbed by small birds in 
the plantation. 9 p.m.: female on nest. 12 midnight: female 
still in nesting-hole with young, and one of the pellets placed in 
nest removed. 
14th.—7 a.m.: No trace of any food remains. A portion of 
one pellet placed in nest by me not yet removed, probably the 
young ones had pulled it into parts. 9.30 p.m.: male bird 
heard hooting loudly near at hand, and visiting the nest at 
10 p.m. I found it contained a half-grown rat recently killed, as 
it was still quite warm and partly eaten. 
Although I constantly hear the male bird hooting loudly at a 
considerable distance away, it is very rarely that he hoots close - 
at home. 
15th.—7 a.m.: No remains of rat or other food in nest, and 
all portions of pellets also removed. One young one taken from 
nest and placed in a basket for the day. 7 p.m.: young one 
has ejected pellet in the interval; it contained some remains of 
the rat, all the larger bones, including the skull, were fractured. 
The skull was entire when examined in the nest the previous 
night. To-nightis damp and cold, and the mother is brooding 
over her young with outstretched wings. 
16th.—7 a.m.: No trace of any food in nest. A young one 
again removed. 6p.m.: no pellet as yet cast by young one in 
basket. 8p.m.: a pellet now in the basket. Pellet only contained 
a few bones, mostly fur. 
The cleanliness of their nesting quarters puzzles me con- 
siderably. It is very rarely that any excrement or pellets are 
found in the hole at any time of the day or night. The young 
kept by me voided about three times during twelve hours and 
cast a pellet in the evening. There seems no alternative but 
that the feeces and pellets are either withheld until the nest is 
visited by the male bird, or those of the young swallowed in the 
meantime by the female. Remains of food, such as the larger 
bones, skulls, &c., which cannot be fractured and swallowed, are 
