153 
think be passed over in silence. As they 
take their prey with their claws so they carry 
it in their claws to their nest : but, as the feet 
are necessary in their ascent under the tiles, 
they constantly perch first on the roof of the 
chancel, and shift the Mouse from their claws 
to their bill, that the feet may be at liberty to 
take hold of the plate on the wall as they are 
rising under the eaves." 
As the young of this species continue in 
the nest for a great length of time, and are 
fed even long after they can fly, many hun- 
dreds of Mice can scarcely suffice to supply 
them with food, on this account the farmer 
holds it in great estimation, and leaves a hole 
in his barn and granary for its egress. 
The generally received opinion that Owls 
will not eat the Shrew appears not to be well 
founded, as Montagu asserts that he has taken 
five of those animals from the stomach of one 
of these birds. 
It has also been asserted that Owls have so 
great an antipathy to the liver of the Hog 
that they will not touch it. This was not the 
case with one that lived for a considerable 
time in our possession, as we have repeatedly 
u 
