NATURAL HISTORY OF SKLBORNE. 4l'3 
very liglit, the wings seem arcliecl out, and " take the wind light." 
Tawny or brown owls are caught in the trunks of decayed old 
trees in forests and large woods ; they are different in tlieir habits 
from the white owl, and prefer solitude. Mr. Davy has known the 
nest to be five feet dee^J in the hollow of a tree. The boys find 
the nests and get the young birds by taking a woollen stock- 
ing and rolling it into a loose ball ; they then l)y means of a 
string bob it up and down among the young owls. The owl 
chicks turn on their backs and attack it with their chiws ; they 
don't seem to have sense to let go, but keep hold, and up they 
must come. The tawny owls are more rare than the white owls. 
There is abundance of the tawny owls in the New Forest. 
Watford is a noted place for them, especially the old trees in 
Lord Essex's park. This is also a wonderful place for nightin- 
gales. 
There are, it is believed, no owls in T)erl)yshii'e. Squire 
Wright, of Osmaston, is endeavouring to establish them in a 
belfry on his mansion. 
These useful birds may be established, if owners of property 
choose to do so, and the locality itself is favourable. Seven 
years ago Mr. Davy sold, through Bailey, coachman to Mr. 
G. S. Bancroft, M.P. for Leeds, two nests of young barn owls, 
this gentleman wishing to establish them amongst the ruins 
of Kirkstall Abbey, near Leeds. When the young owls were 
strong enough they were turned loose, and being tame, were fed 
nightly for a time until they could find their own food and shift 
for themselves. Owls from that time to the present can be seen 
at night time flying about the ruins. The monastery of Kirkstall 
was built in the year 1100. I am sorry to see that the ladies are 
making use of owls as ornaments for hats and fire-screens I saw 
in a shop w^indow a lady's hat with a whole owl on it. I advise 
all ladies who are frightened at mice not to wear these owd 
bonnets, for if the owls are killed we shall soon have a plague of 
mice. 
When pressed for food owls will take any kind of small live 
thing ; they lay up in store, mice, &c., round about their nests. 
Mr. Davy has had the young ones both of the long and short 
eared owls Irom tlie neighbourhood of Weybridge. He gets 
more of the long than the short-eared owls. There is always a 
sale for owls iu London ; the common fetch from two shillings ; 
the horned ones, when matured, average 7s. 6(1. each. 
Owls will destroy pigeons under a week old, but only when 
pressed for food. Stormy and w^et evenings keep the mice from 
moving about; so owls work very hard in wet weather. A 
calm, gloomy night is the time for owls. 
