224 
THE RAT. 
one pint, and three quarters, daily, — or ninety-seven quarters, 
four bushels, seven pints, and three glasses, in the half-year. 
But to say nothing of the odd pints and glasses, and sup- 
posing the mixed grain at fifty shillings per quarter, what 
then would be the cost of keeping these mice for six months 1 
Why no less than £243. 155. 
I shall now conclude my remarks on the owl with two 
more observations. Suppose one mischievous bird out of 
the thirty did now and then destroy a little chicken (though 
how they are to do it I cannot tell) ; but suppose they did, 
— pray what would be the cost of the damage done ? Would 
it amount to a sovereign in six months? I think not ; but 
supposing it did, — well, then, the damage done to the 
farmer by thirty owls, in six months, would be one pound, 
while, during the same period, the property they would save 
to him, by the destruction of his vermin, would be £243. 1^5. 
And all this is on the supposition that they destroy only 
two mice each in four-and-twenty hours. 
The next consideration is regarding their doings among 
rats. In the first place, 'tis certain that rats, like every 
other animal, must be young before they can be old. In the 
second place, 'tis certain that owls like a young rat for 
breakfast as well as they do an old mouse, if not better, 
because it is more delicate, fat, and tender. In tlie third 
place, there is no doubt that owls, the same as ourselves, like 
to go where they are the best and quickest served. And in 
the fourth place, it is equally certain that young rats, like 
kittens and young rabbits, are very fond of playing and 
gambolling about the mouth of the hole as soon as they have 
strength enough to do so : and thus become an easy prey 
to the lynx-eyed owl. You may be sure that where the 
owl has caught one, he will not be long before he wends his 
course that way for a second ; and so Oii, till he has devoured 
the whole litter ; thereby not only preventing the possi- 
bility of their becoming old, but cutting ofi* their entire 
posterity. There is no doubt, if farmers had a goodly num- 
ber of these invaluable birds about their premises, that in a 
short time rats, mice, and shrews would become infinitely 
more scarce than they are now. Therefore, in conclusion, 
let me advise farmers to have holes cut in the sides of their 
barns and granaries for these birds to go in and out at, with 
