1030 



Feeding Habits or the Little Owl. 



[Feb., 



The following list* includes the names of all the species 

 destroyed of which I have reliable evidence : — 



Species. Percentage destroyed. 

 House-Sparrows 2'50 



Mistle-Thrush *50 



Song-Thrush -50 



Blackbird -60 



Starling 2 '25 



Chaffinch -55 



Greenfinch ... ... ... ... ... ... -45 



Skylark -25 



Cuckoo ... ... ... ... ... ... -20 



Lapwing -20 



Wood-Pigeon 2*25 



Total... 10-25 



Of the eleven species there is only one that is wholly 

 beneficial, viz., the lapwing; the cuckoo and skylark are 

 partially so, while of the remaining seven there are undoubtedly 

 too many at the present time, and 2 of them — the house- 

 sparrow and wood-pigeon — must be regarded as distinctly 

 injurious. I think we may therefore conclude that so far as 

 the Little Owl is concerned in its destruction of wild bird life 

 it constitutes a natural check upon a series of birds all of which 

 are plentiful, and, as a whole, are not particularly beneficial. 

 Its activities in this direction we may therefore regard as being 

 beneficial. 



I have no complete figures for the blackbird or cuckoo, but 

 of the remaining species the food percentages are as follows :— 





Injuries. 



Benefits. 



Neutral. 



Mistle-Thrush 



21-00 . 



. 35-50 . 



.. 43-50 



Song-Thrush 



17-00 . 



.. 37-00 . 



.. 46-00 



f Greenfinch 



22-00 . 



. 6-50 . 



.. 71-50 



House-Sparrow ... 



62-75 . 



.. 12-50 . 



.. 24-75 



Chaffinch... 



18-00 . 



. 16-50 . 



.. 65-50 



Starling 



41-00 . 



.. 36-50 . 



.. 22-50 



Skylark 



13-00 . 



.. 36-50 . 



.. 50-50 



Wood-Pigeon 



62-00 . 



.. 150 . 



.. 36-50 



Lapwing ... 





.. 70-00 . 



.. 30-00 



Average .. 



28-53 . 



.. 28-05 . 



.. 43-42 



This table should be interpreted in the light of that above, in 

 which the percentage of the different species destroyed is 

 shown. 



* Computed from the results obtained by an examination of stomach 

 contents, pellets, and "hoards" or "larders." 

 f Approximate figures only. 



