The tawny owl has five eggs , white and smooth ; and this is the kind that hoots at night . Another kind sounds like a child crying . They eat mice and bats whole , and the parts that they can not digest they make into little balls and spit out . '' `` My gracious ! how funny ! '' Nan was heard to observe . `` They can not see by day ; and if they get out into the light , they go flapping round half blind , and the other birds chase and peck at them , as if they were making fun . The horned owl is very big , ` most as big as the eagle . It eats rabbits , rats , snakes , and birds ; and lives in rocks and old tumble-down houses . They have a good many cries , and scream like a person being choked , and say , ` Waugh O ! waugh O ! ' and it scares people at night in the woods . The white owl lives by the sea , and in cold places , and looks something like a hawk . There is a kind of owl that makes holes to live in like moles . It is called the burrowing owl , and is very small . The barn-owl is the commonest kind ; and I have watched one sitting in a hole in a tree , looking like a little gray cat , with one eye shut and the other open . He comes out at dusk , and sits round waiting for the bats . I caught one , and here he is . '' With that Nat suddenly produced from inside his jacket a little downy bird , who blinked and ruffled his feathers , looking very plump and sleepy and scared . `` Do n't touch him !
He is going to show off , '' said XXXXX , displaying his new pet with great pride .
Nan Nat Waugh barn-owl choked day feathers moles night snakes