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86 TIlE CONDOR [ VOL. VIII rafters and gritted my teeth till I could wedge in my thumb and pry the daws loose. The young owls were hardly old enough to fly, but they could raise their .wings and run like a cat for the darkest corner. We had never tried the camera on such a ferocious lot of birds. They knew the art of self-defence like a profess- HALF-GROWN BARN OWl. IN FIGHTING ATTITUDE ional prize fighter. Approach one and he was on his guard. He would turu on his back in an inkling and throw up his claws. "Come on, I'm ready," he seemed to say; and we kept our distance. The oldest one had a villainous temper; he was as much opposed to having his picture taken as a superstitious Indian. Gert- ADULT BARN OV?I. LEAVING NEST TAKEN ON EXF'O?URE OF ONE ONE-THOUSANDTH F, AR'r OF A SECOND erally he sat with his chin resting on his chest like a broken-down lawyer. Once when the photographer was least expecting it, he dropped on his trouser's leg as lightly as a feather, but with the strength and tenacity of a mad bull pup. The claws sank thru to bed rock and before they could be pried loose, they had drawn blood in three places. It is well known to scien? tists that all birds of prey swallow a great deal of indi- gestible matter such as the fur and the bones o[ animals and the feathers of birds. After the nutritious portions have been absorbed, the rest of the mass is formed into pellets in the stomach and vomited up before a new sup- ply of food is eaten. By the