DISTURBING DISCOVERY.
The advent of the little owl—the latest importation to cope with the wily sparrow—was hailed with delight by th°. farming community generally, but the discovery is now being made that the owl "can bite two ways." Farmers in various parts of the Dominion are having the truth brought home to them that since his introduction to our land the owl has i been casting round f:r some easier prey than the sparrow—and he has found it in the quail. It would appear to be the casa of the weasel and the rabbit repeated. Instances are recorded by a number of farm*
era, in Central Otago in particular, of the owl attacking California!! quail and totally ignoring the enemy it was imported to destroy. The small birds are vtry numerous this season, and apparently the owl is not going to prove as successfrl. a means of coping with the pest that was anticipated. ' Californian quail are plentiful throughout the districts where owls have been liberated, and it would be the irony of fate to see the ground game'destroyed and the sparrows left to continue their depredations.
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Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10062, 9 August 1910, Page 4
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187DISTURBING DISCOVERY. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10062, 9 August 1910, Page 4
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