The Lure of an Owl As strange a device as
ever was borne by a banner has just been introduced into England. It is a habit of gamekeepers in Czecho-Slovakia, the paradise of the partridge, to keep a pair or two of eagle owls. The birds are gorgeous creatures. How soft and quiet but powerful the beat of the great square wing. One hen bird that I watched this week turned her head and looked backwards at us without any apparent move- ment other than the mere revolution of the head ; and the great eyes gleamed like lit lamps. The bird is splendid in our eyes but is regarded with strange hostility by almost all birds of prey. The appearance of a pair will draw every hawk, jay, crow et hoc genus omne to the place preparatory to mobbing the intruder. They are so intent that the gamekeeper can stand by in the open and shoot one bird after another. So are these so-called ver destroyed. It may be necessary to reduce the tale of some birds, especially the carrion crow and jackdaw which are exterminating some other birds ; but we may hope that the lure of the eagle owls will be used with discrimination. Not all birds of prey are destructive of other birds ; and all have their place in the economy of nature.
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