i2 The Barn Owl. 
like a person snoring, and when I was a schoolboy I 
used to think it was an old bird snoring: this is a 
common idea with country people. I once saw a 
Barn Owl capture a mouse within a few yards of me 
in broad daylight. I noticed it a minute or two before 
it came very near, through the spaces between the 
young fir trees which stood around me; at length it 
hovered in the air, not more than seven or eight yards 
from me, and descended sideways towards me with 
its tail spread, and its wings thrown forwards, resting 
on the ground close round its prey, as if to prevent 
the escape of the mouse, should it make a mistake in 
its aim. Since then I have noticed both the Owl and 
Kestrel doing the same thing when fastening on their 
prey. 

