Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1894-05-10
the BARN owl.


One Of tho birds That should be Spared
for tho Good Il Does.
The barn owl, called also the white
or church owl, because OF his procliv-
ity Tor nesting in old church towers, Is
one OF our best feathered friends He
Is the mouse-hunter par excellence. IL
during the daytime he has been rest
ing, mere bumped up mass of feath-
ers, near some old wall that once was
white, but now is weather-stained, you
may pass him often without noticing
him at all, SO we'll does his plumage
fall in with the tones of his surround
, ings.
When the sun goes down, in the soft
twilight, forth he comes with Tapping
measured flight and a kissing scream.
to hunt in most persistent manner un-
til the sun rises again and the night
feeding small deer have retired TO their
holes The young of owls stay long in
their nests, and the numbers OF vari-
GUS kinds Of mice that the parent birds
carry to them there must be some
thing enormous Short-tailed, stout
bodied meadow mice, called locally
dog-mice, wood-mice, and shrew-mice,
arc all TO be picked up in the meadow,
which the barn owl works like n
pointer Then there are the house
mice that also frequent the barns and
the outbuildings TO be looked for;these
all form the chief food OF owls and
their young from one years end TO an
other
This owl has curious, drawn-out,
nearly heart-shnped face, his eyes are
dark and beautiful, his breast shines
like satin; II he appears but a sorry
bird by daylight, he has an active, alert
air at night; and II you win his conf
dence, petting him and training him,
he viii amuse you with no end of
strange antics, although the white or
barn owl is, as n rule, more shy and re-
served than his relative, the
brown owl OF the woods Both
do inestimable service for man,
and until recently they
have been ill-requited indeed, having
been shot mercilessly, partly from ig-
norant prejudice, partly owing TO the
demand for their feathers for hats and
fire-screens So slow are we in learn
ing the true uses and value of what is
outside our own immediate little
worldl
No proper nest Is made by the barn
owl; the eggs are laid in any conven-
lent spot in farm building, hollow trees,
dovecotes, and clefts in walls Mr.. r
j. Howard, a well known Lancashire,
ornithologist placed an empty soap
box beneath a rafter in an outbuilding,
and soon two owls appropriated II, as
was his intention II is common
thing 20 find nestlings in various stages
Of growth in the same nest, at least in
two or three distinct stages; and fresh
eggs are found beside nestlings In
cubation begins generally about the
end Of April; oftener in May.
Having observed the progress of the
birds domestic arrangements for a
time, Mr.. Howard took down the box
with the young half-Aedged creatures
and photographed the quaint-looking
family. Incubation beginning as soon
the first egg is laid, the young are in
different stages, and one easily singles
out the elder brother of the family,
looking with large, unfeathered wings
like some wise country parson in his
white surplice. Some naturalists say
that the last eggs are hatched by the
first young Of the pair. ~
The gamekeeper is slower in recog-
nizing the usefulnest Of this owl than
Is the farmer. The latter knows that
it rids him of mice galore, but the
former often shoots the fine bird, look
ing on it as an enemy TO his young
birds, being too shortsighted to under
stand that the persistent hunter is in
quest of the young rats and mice that
swarm about the coops, and is, there
fore a friend instead of a foe. e.-Phila-
delphia Press