Wild Birds Useful and Injurious. 669 
feathers of an adult starling lying on the floor of an out-house 
amongst a quantity of castings ; the unfortunate bird had 
probably fluttered in to roost, just as the owl was waking up, 
and so had been promptly pounced upon and put out of the 
way. It is interesting to watch a barn-owl enter a building by 
means of the narrow loopholes in the wall : it throws up its 
Fio. 3. — Barn Owl, AIuco Jfamrru'us. 
wings above its back, almost assuming the position of a butter- 
fly at rest, and darts through the straitened entrance, without 
pausing a moment in its flight. 
Its habits bear the strictest investigation ; in fact, the more 
closely it is studied, the more is its harmless and useful character 
made manifest. The accusation that it destroys the eggs and 
young of pigeons is quite without foundation. Such loss is in 
