90 
THE WHITE OWL. 
its great round eyes every movement of a grass-blade, and catching with its sensitive ears every 
sound that issues from behind. Never a field-mouse can come within ken of the bird’s eye, or 
make the least rustling among the leaves within hearing of the Owl’ s ear, that is not detected 
and captured. The claws are the instruments by which the Owl seizes its victim, and it does 
not employ the beak until it desires to devour the prey. 
It is curious that the Owl should have two modes of eating, which, as far as my own expe- 
rience goes, are invariably followed. If the bird has caught a mouse and is going to eat it, the 
mouse is first bitten smartly across the back so as to destroy all life, and when it hangs motion- 
less from the bird’s beak, it is thrown up into the air in a most adroit manner, so as to fall 
with its head downwards. The Owl then catches the little quadruped in such a manner that 
its head falls into the bird’s mouth, where it hangs for a few seconds. A sharp toss of the 
head then sends the whole of the mouse down the Owl’s throat with the exception of the tail, 
which hangs out of one side of the beak, generally the left side, and is then rolled about just 
as a boy rolls a stick of sweetmeats between his lips. After carrying on this process for two 
or three minutes, the Owl again jerks its head, and the mouse vanishes wholly from sight. 
But when the Owl has to deal with a bird, it eats it after the manner of the hawks, partially 
plucking it, and tearing it to pieces with its beak before swallowing it. 
A cat with which I am well acquainted always follows the example of the Owl in its 
method of eating prey. If it catches a mouse, she disposes of it without ceremony, beginning 
at the head and gradually eating towards the tail ; but if she has captured a bird, she places 
her feet upon its body, and with her teeth seizes the feathers and deliberately pulls them out 
before she will attempt to eat the carcase. It may be that while the Owl is twisting and turn- 
ing the mouse in its mouth, it may be lubricating its skin in order to admit of its easier pass- 
age down the throat. The feathers of birds are too stiff and absorbent to admit of this process, 
and are therefore removed by the Owl before it swallow's its prey. 
Some doubts have been raised respecting the bird-killing propensities of the Barn Owl, 
many writers having asserted that it never kills adult birds, and that at the worst it only takes 
a young finch or so out of the nest. Now, as my own Owl was always delighted with a full- 
grown bird, and proceeded to eat it in a very business-like manner, it seemed to me as if the 
process were by no means a new one, and these suspicions were confirmed by some “castings ” 
of a Bam Owl which were sent to me, and which contained, among other matters, the bones 
of birds and an entire skull of a full-grown sparrow. Since that time, I have seen several 
accounts of similar objects being discovered in the “ castings,” and it is rather a curious fact 
that the skull is always unbroken. Generally, the “castings” are composed of the bones and 
skins of mice, together with the hard portions of various beetles, mostly in the specimens 
which I have examined belonging to the genera Carabus, Abax, Agonum, and Steropus. 
Sometimes the Owl has been detected in robbing the pigeons’ nesis of their young ; but 
such conduct seems to be very exceptional, as there are many instances on record where the 
Owl has actually inhabited the same cote with the pigeons without touching their young or 
disturbing the peace of the parents. This Owd is also an experienced fisher, and has been seen 
to drop quietly upon the water, and return to its nest bearing in its claws a perch which it had 
captured. 
This bird is easily tamed when taken young, and is a very amusing pet. If properly treated, 
and fed with appropriate diet, it will live for a considerable time without requiring very close 
attendance. Even if it be set at liberty, and its wings permitted to reach their full growth, it 
will voluntarily remain with its owner, whom it recognizes with evident pleasure, evincing its 
dislike of strangers by a sharp hiss and an impatient snap of the bill. One of these Owls, 
belonging to a friend, was, although a sufficiently amusing bird to its owner, so incorrigibly 
mischievous and spiteful, that it was at last doomed to death. 
It seemed to fear nothing, and to care for nothing with one curious exception, in the 
person of a free but tame skylark, which was accustomed to sleep in a cage with the door open, 
and to forage for food on its own account when it was not satisfied with the quantity or quality 
of the diet that was daily furnished. With this lark the Owl contracted a firm alliance, per- 
mitting its little friend to sit upon its back and bury itself among the mass of soft plumage 
