. Notes on the birds of Northamptonshire and neighbourhood . be called abundant. Few summer evenings passAvithout two or more of these birds being on viewhunting over the meadows close to this house, andmany more are to be heard than seen. I think thatin most parts of England gamekeepers are beginningto find out that in killing the Barn Owl they aremurdering a most efficient ally in the destruction ofthe worst, because the most numerous, enemies togame in this country, i. e. the Brown Eat, to saynothing of those little pests, tlie various species ofmice and voles. The present species, as is pr
. Notes on the birds of Northamptonshire and neighbourhood . be called abundant. Few summer evenings passAvithout two or more of these birds being on viewhunting over the meadows close to this house, andmany more are to be heard than seen. I think thatin most parts of England gamekeepers are beginningto find out that in killing the Barn Owl they aremurdering a most efficient ally in the destruction ofthe worst, because the most numerous, enemies togame in this country, i. e. the Brown Eat, to saynothing of those little pests, tlie various species ofmice and voles. The present species, as is probably well known tomy readers, selects a hollow tree, a hole or crevice inold buildings, or a dense dark fir tree as its usualresort, where, during the daytime, it remains appa-rently fast asleep till dusk, when it sallies forth inquest of food. I have several times climbed up tovarious holes in old trees in this neighbourhood justto see if my friends were at home, and often watchedthem for some time without disturbing, or apparently AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 61. 62 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSRIRE even waking tliem, bnt occasionally have beendetected, when the Owls (for there were often morethan one) have made no attempt at flight, but merelyattenuating themselves to their narrowest dimensions,swayed their bodies slowly to and fro, with manyloud snaps of drowsy defiance. Many years ago I was staying at the rectory atTichmarsh ; a pair of Barn Owls had a nest full ofyoung in the celebrated cedar in the rectory garden,and one fine evening the old buds came bringingfood to their young seventeen times in half an hourby the clock; there was a rickyard within thirtyyards of the nest, and this was the Owls specialhunting-ground, as I repeatedly observed : mice werecomparatively scarce, probably because rats swarmed,and the pellets found under the nest were in thisinstance composed almost entirely of the remains ofthe latter vermin. In other cases, besides the above-mentioned animals, I have f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1895
