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OWLS. 
nest, many hundreds of mice must be destroyed in 
the course of rearing them. 
If taken young, they may be tamed so far as to 
eat out of the hand, and become, to a certain degree, 
familiar ; but in their wild state even, they seem to 
be sensible of kindness, and lose much of their shy- 
ness, if never disturbed. A gentleman in Yorkshire, 
Mr. Waterton, who has paid great attention to their 
habits, gives a very interesting account of their mode 
of life. He made a sort of dwelling for them, about 
four feet square, on the ruins of an old gateway, and 
trained some ivy round about, which soon concealed 
it. In the stone-work, he fixed a thick oaken stick 
for them to perch upon. In about a month after 
every thing was ready, a pair of Barn-Owls came, 
and established themselves there. This succeeded 
so well, that he formed some other similar places, 
all of which were in like manner soon occupied by 
pairs of Owls. That in the old gateway was so con- 
trived, that he could examine it whenever he pleased ; 
and as they were never injured, the Owls soon grew 
confident, and betrayed no fear when strangers 
mounted a ladder to look in. One rather unexpected 
piece of information was learned from constant in- 
spection, namely, that these birds, unlike others, 
seem to breed at all seasons, as he found a young 
brood hatched in September, and another in De- 
cember ; and he adds, that he considers himself as 
amply repaid for the pains he has taken in protecting 
and encouraging his Barn-Owls; conceiving that it 
pays him a hundred-fold by the enormous quantity 
of mice destroyed throughout the year. Many, 
however, condemn them, on account of the ravages 
