. Birds of village and field: a bird book for beginners . bird of the marshes and flies nearthe ground, like the Marsh Hawk. It lives mainlyon meadow mice, gophers, grasshoppers, crickets,and other insects, and deserves the fullest protec-tion. A strong piece of evidence in its favor is foundin Yarrells British Birds. Undoubtedly fieldmice, and especially those of the short-tailed groupor voles, are their chief objects of prey, and whenthese animals increase in an extraordinary andunaccountable way, as they sometimes do, so as tobecome extremely mischievous. Owls, particularlyof this species,
. Birds of village and field: a bird book for beginners . bird of the marshes and flies nearthe ground, like the Marsh Hawk. It lives mainlyon meadow mice, gophers, grasshoppers, crickets,and other insects, and deserves the fullest protec-tion. A strong piece of evidence in its favor is foundin Yarrells British Birds. Undoubtedly fieldmice, and especially those of the short-tailed groupor voles, are their chief objects of prey, and whenthese animals increase in an extraordinary andunaccountable way, as they sometimes do, so as tobecome extremely mischievous. Owls, particularlyof this species, flock to devour them. Thus thereare records of a sore plague of strange mice inKent and Essex in the year 1580 or 1581, andagain in the county last mentioned in 1648. In1754 the same thing is said to have occurred atHilgay, near Downham Market, in Norfolk ; whilewithin the present century the Forest of Dean, inGloucestershire, and some parts of Scotland havebeen similarly infested. In all these cases. Owlsare mentioned as thronging to the spot, and ren-. Plate XXIII. — SHORT-EARED OWL Ear-tufts short; upper parts brown, marked with biiffy ; underparts streaked with dark brown. Length, 15^ inches.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1898
