132 
THE BIRDS OF HAMPSHIRE. 
puppies, magpies, and any kind of carrion or offal." And 
in another place ^ he says : " When brown owls hoot, their 
throats swell as big as a hen's egg. I have known an owl 
of this species live a full year without any water." 
Gilbert White had a brother, Henry, more musical 
than himself, who was rector of Fyfield, and when staying 
at his rectory in February, 177 1, he persuaded him to test 
the owls with his pitchpipe, with the result that most of 
them were found to hoot in B flat, only one descending as 
low as A flat. 
Being at home again in the summer, he asked a musical 
inhabitant of Selborne to try the same experiment, who 
found that they varied between G flat, A flat and B flat.2 
The bird almost invariably lays its eggs in hollow trees, 
but occasionally makes use of thick ivy outside a tree, or 
the old nest of another bird. 
The number of eggs laid is not infrequently four, but 
more usually two or three. 
The young are easily reared and make interesting pets. 
Of four taken from a nest in Doles Wood, near Andover, 
the hen birds, on reaching maturity, laid eggs in their cage 
every year, once as early as February 17th. At the time 
of laying they were very savage. They were very fond of 
water and bathed daily even in very cold weather ; but this 
fondness for water we have noticed in most owls in 
captivity. 
A nest occupied at Laverstoke in April, 1882, and 
containing an egg and one young bird, could not be reached, 
owing to the persistent and furious attacks of the hen 
bird, until she was knocked down. (Munn.) 
^ Letter xv, to Earrington. Selborne. July 8lh, 1773. 
* Letter x. to Barrington. Selborne. August 1st, 1 77 1, 
