184 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
which is more usually the resort of the larger 
species. It is always an interesting and rather 
ghostly-looking spectacle to watch the noiseless 
form of the White Owl methodically hunting for 
its prey by night, whether it is seen above the 
scented hay fields in the luminous twilight of mid- 
summer, or when the earth and trees are as white 
as the Owl itself with hoar-frost sparkling under 
the stars. Its startling screech or yell is not so 
often heard as the Wood Owl's hoot ; it also 
makes, while hunting, a sharp, double, spitting kind 
of cry, much like one of the sounds which a cat 
will use to express her opinion of somebody else's 
dog. The young ones as well as the old will also 
utter all sorts of queer snoring and hissing sounds 
in their resting and roosting haunts. The Barn 
Owl makes no nest, but lays its eggs in its chosen 
hole from the middle of March onwards. Three 
or four eggs are laid, sometimes six ; they are often 
laid by instalments of pairs, at an interval of a 
fortnight or more, so that by the time the last eggs 
are hatched the first young birds may be nearly full 
fledged. The eggs are dull white, about the size 
of a House Pigeon's, but distinctly rounder in 
shape. 
