BARN OWL. 
77 
When out abroad by day, like most of the other species, 
they are numerously attended by the little gossiping and insult- 
ing birds of the neighborhood ; and to add to their distraction, 
it is not an uncommon practice, in the North of England, for 
boys to set up a shout and follow the Owl, who becomes so 
deafened and stunned as at times nearly to fall down, and 
thus become an easy prey to his persecutors. And the prob- 
ability of such an effect will not be surprising when we con- 
sider the delicacy and magnitude of the auditory apparatus of 
this bird the use of which is probably necessary to discover 
the otheAvise silent retreats of their tiny prey. When taken 
captive, according to Buffon, they do not long sur^nve the loss 
of liberty, and pertinaciously refuse to eat, — a habit very differ- 
ent from that of the young Red Owl, who allowed himself to 
feed from my hand, and tugged greedily and tamely at the 
morsel held out to him until he got it in his possession ; smaU 
birds also he would instantly grasp in his talons, and hiss and 
shaU, shale, when any attempt was made to deprive him of his 
booty. _ ■ j u • 
The young of this species, when they have just attained their 
growth, are, in France, considered good food, as they are then 
fat and plump. When first hatched they are so white and 
downy as almost entirely to resemble a powder puff. At 
Hudson’s Bay a large Owl, resembling the cinereous, is like- 
wise eaten, and esteemed a delicacy, according to Pennant. 
The Barn Owl occurs regularly from the Middle States south- 
ward, though it is not abundant north of South Carolina. A few 
examples have been taken in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and 
Mr. Mcllwraith reports that four have been taken in Ontario. 
