242 



THAT'S IT; 



The, tawny owl is common in most well-wooded 

 districts, and is strictly nocturnal in its habits, 

 seldom moving, or leaving its place of conceal- 

 ment, during the day. It inhabits thick woods, 

 or strong plantations of evergreens, and at 

 nightfall issues forth to seek its food, sometimes 

 visiting small enclosures about farm-houses, 

 at others taking a wider range over the neigh- 

 bouring fields, feeding upon leverets, young 

 rabbits, moles, rats, mice, birds, frogs, insects, 

 and sometimes fish.* 



4 



636. 



Owls will attack the nests of other birds, and j 

 destroy, not only their eggs, but their young. j 

 Ralph Carr, Esq., gives the following account, 

 illustrative of their habits :— "In 1844, a pair of 

 tawny owls ushered into the world and reared 

 three hopeful young ones, after having fed them 

 assiduously upon the trees for many weeks after 

 they had left the nest. The food must often 

 have consisted in great part of worms, snails, 

 and slugs, for the old birds brought it every 

 minute from the ground in the immediate vici- 

 nity of the trees where the young were perched. 

 This, however, might only be considered as a 

 whet to their appetites before dinner ; for the 

 parents made repeated and persevering attacks 

 upon three or four magpies' nests, sometimes 

 during half an hour at a time. As the defence 

 was spirited and gallant, they were often re- 

 pulsed ; but, finally, I found the remains of 

 young magpies under the favourite perch of the 

 young owls, and one morning the head and 

 feathers of an old magpie. This, then, I thought, 

 must have been taken when roosting. In 1845, 

 the old owls alone were seen, and they passed 

 the summer in sedate retirement, and seemed 

 to rest from the labours of propagation ; neither 

 did they molest the magpies. But in 1846 they 

 began to be very active early in the spring, and 

 by the beginning of May again had their young 

 owlets out upon the branches. Walking out 



• Yarrell'i History <>f British Birds. 



one evening about nine o'clock, I heard a perti- 

 nacious attack going on against a pair of mag- 

 pies that had their nest in the top of a very tall 

 sycamore. At last, instead of the frantic chat- 

 tering of the poor magpies, one of them began 

 to shriek in agony like a hare when caught hi, 

 a noose ; and it was evident that the owl was 

 endeavouring to drag the magpie by the head 

 out of the entrance hole of the nest. I ran 

 down to the spot to prevent the perpetration 

 of another murder, and arrived in time to sepa- 

 rate the combatants by striking against the 

 stem of the tree with a stick. Before the next 

 morning the young of our only pair of rooks 

 had disappeared from the nest, in a situation 

 where nothing but the owls could have injured 

 them. This was too bad ; a decree went forth 

 against the young owls, and they paid the 

 penalty of their voracious appetites. 

 " It is thus evident that the magpie's instinct 

 , in arching over her nest, 412, is necessary to 

 ! enable her and her mate to defend it against 

 ! rapacious birds. Probably, the raven, the 

 I buzzard, and the kite may be all disposed to 

 ! make unfriendly visits, and it is evident that 

 ; the tawny owl is a formidable enemy. The 

 reluctance of the rook to build out of society 

 may also be better understood, as it cannot 

 (!efend its open nest against the owl at night; 

 and also one reason why the instinct of the 

 daw leads it to seek the shelter of a hole.* 

 That wisdom and beneficence which never err, 

 may have given them instincts for other and 

 more important ends than human eyes may ever 

 be able to descry, but it is always gratifying when 

 we think we can in part understand the utility 

 and design of differences so striking." 



Magpies' nests, 412, are gene- 

 rally placed high on the topmost 

 branches of a tree, where the 



5 



limbs are so weak as scarcely to 

 bear the weight of a climbing 

 boy. The plumage of the 



* See the " Reason Why : Natural History," fot 

 thousand* of interesting' evidences of design in the 

 forms, habits, and abodes oi animals 



