1138 Feeding Habits of the Little Owl. [Mar., 



Amphibia :— Mammalia :— 



Rana temporaria. Short-tailed Field Vole ( Microtia 



Aves :— hirtus). 



House- Sparrow. Red or Bank Vol e {Evotomys glare- 



Starling. olus). 



Blackbird. Brown Rat (Epimys norvegicus). 



Missel Thrush. House Mouse {Mus Musculus). 



Chaffinch. Long-tailed Field Mouse {Apodemus 



Greenfinch. sylvaticns). 



Skylark. Common Shrew (Sorex araneu.s). 



Wood Pigeon. Mole ( Talpa europaea). 



Pheasant. 



Summary and Conclusion.— After a very thorough and 



exhaustive investigation extending over three successive years, 

 and after examining the stomach contents of 194 specimens of 

 adult Little Owls and 18 nestlings, in addition to making- 

 careful examinations and analyses of 267 pellets and many 

 " hoards," the author has come to the following conclusions : — 



The results obtained by this investigation clearly show, as 

 previously pointed out by Gurney (10) that the losses 

 occasioned to game birds have been grossly exaggerated, and 

 while there is no desire to minimise such in any way, it is 

 urged that the relative seriousness should be clearly understood. 



Young game birds are not available as an article of food 

 except for a comparatively short season of the year; more- 

 over, game birds are not bred in every county. 



Gamekeepers and others have been appealed to to send in 

 specimens of the Little Owl, and they have very willingly 

 responded, but in spite of the closest and most minute scrutiny 

 to which the stomach contents have been subjected, the per- 

 centage of remains of game birds is infinitesimal. Injurious 

 and neutral insects and voles and mice constitute the main 

 items of food. 



An examination of 18 stomachs of nestlings gives similar 

 results, while that of the pellets and larders, both by the writer 

 and others, lends no support to the view that large quantities 

 of game birds are destroyed. It is not stated that the Little 

 Owl does not destroy young game birds, for it does, but it is 

 contended that the actual percentage is so small that it is, under 

 ordinary circumstances, negligible. There are no doubt cases 

 where the depredations of a few birds are serious, and of course 

 in such circumstances they should be destroyed. 



In consequence of the cumulative evidence obtained we are 

 forced to the only logical conclusion, viz., that whilst a few 

 young game birds are destroyed, the bulk of the food of the 



