1922.] 



Feeding Habits of the Little Owl. 



1029. 



south of France it is not looked upon with disfavour, and the 

 test of dissection is rather in its favour than otherwise." 



Atchison* records finding 74 young pheasants in a nest on a 

 Cambridgeshire estate. 



In reply to a circular letter sent to various correspondents, 

 gamekeepers, etc., 23 state that in their opinion this bird is 

 more injurious than beneficial, and 26 state it is more beneficial 

 than injurious, while 28 state they do not know of any injuries. 



Apart from the observations of Mr. Meade-Waldo, quoted 

 above, none of these examinations are complete or extensive 

 enough to affect the question, for we have an equally convinc- 

 ing series of opinions and isolated observations from both sides. 



It is obviously wrong to condemn any species of bird because 

 it destroys a certain percentage of young game birds, just as it 

 would be to condemn another species because it destroys a 

 certain percentage of cereals or fruit. 



The question that lies before us is not whether the Little 

 Owl destroys young game birds, but whether the percentages 

 of other food items confer a benefit out of all proportion to the 

 loss inflicted. In other words, we must have accurate figures 

 showing the percentages of all the food items, for each month 

 of the year, based upon a large series of stomach contents and 

 pellets obtained from various localities, and such is the work 

 we have endeavoured to carry out. 



Migrations. — Many correspondents state that the Little Owls 

 leave them, or almost so, during the winter months. In 

 Leicester they are recorded as plentiful in the summer, but 

 with the coming of autumn they mostly disappear, not return- 

 ing until the end of April or early May. In Yorkshire they 

 certainly move south with the return of winter. 



A Lincolnshire correspondent writes (12th October) : " Little 

 Owls seem to have disappeared from this neighbourhood during 

 the last six months. All the keepers, about ten, round here 

 have had instructions from me to bring in any they caught, 

 but not one has been seen." 



Relation to other Wild Birds. — In considering the economic 

 position of a bird like the Little Owl, it is highly important 

 that attention should be given to the actual kinds of wild birds 

 which it destroys and the percentage these bear to the total 

 food bulk. 



* Brit. Birds, 1912, p. 66. 



