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Invertebrate Food: Caterpillars.—The commonest insects eaten are caterpillars, which occurred in about half of the owls. Several species are represented but two are commonest and sometimes of large size, up to an inch and a-half or so in length. One owl contained 186 caterpillars in addition to 10 other animals. Most of the bulk of a caterpillar consists of chewed vegetable matter in its capacious intestine, and this material being indigestible by the owl, forms a very conspicuous part of the stomach contents of birds which have been eating caterpillars. Of the caterpillar itself usually only the jaws remain. Most of the caterpillars appear to belong to species which live on the ground, the largest and commonest being the larva of the moth Persectania ewingi.

Caterpillars not unnaturally show a marked seasonal periodicity in their occurrence in the stomachs. During the winter, between about March and September, they form an important part of the diet, reaching their peak in June or July, while during the other five months few are to be found.

Beetles.—Nearly as many individual beetles as caterpillars were found, and they occurred at all times of the year, appearing in 87.5 per cent. of the owls. Many different kinds occurred, the most noteworthy being the Lamellicorns, the Carabids and the Weevils,

of which 796, 179 and 79 respectively were found. The Lamellicorns were mostly Odontria striata the adult of one of the well known “grass grubs,” though another similar but smaller species also occurred. The weevils were Platyomida sp. Amongst the others may be mentioned five Elaterid beetles and 12 Longicorns, the large Huhu.

Earwigs.—Twenty-six owls contained earwigs, 14 of them coming from southern bush areas in the Catlins and near Tuatapere. These contained 64 earwigs. Four owls were received from Pembroke and they contained 6, 178, 245 and 267 earwigs respectively, the last two being by far the greatest number of individuals of any Animal found in a single stomach. These large numbers are of interest in connection with the opinions expressed by certain fruit-growers in Central Otago that the owl is beneficial to them because of the numbers of earwigs which it consumes. It is perhaps worth recording that the sex ratio of the 690 earwigs in three Pembroke owls was 60.7 males to 100 females.

Spiders.—Spiders formed a common, though not as a rule conspicuous part of the diet, 404 being recorded from 40% of the owls. Most of them were represented only by isolated chelicerae, but had evidently been quite small. The most interesting feature was the occurrence of the remains of 131 male trapdoor spiders. Those from north of Dunedin were mostly Arbanitis gillesii, while those from the south were A. huttoni. The males of these are difficult to obtain, but evidently they emerge from their burrows in autumn and are captured by the owls. One stomach contained 57 and another 37 of them. The females apparently do not emerge and none were recorded.

Of the animals only found occasionally, a few deserve special mention. Only five millipedes were found, which, in view of their abundance, is peculiar and suggests that they may be distasteful to the birds or do not emerge while they are feeding. The same applies to woodlice, of which only five were found. One owl contained three slugs, the only molluscs which were encountered, but as it is doubtful if any recognisable remains would be left after they had been in the stomach for any length of time, it is possible that they may be eaten more often than this number suggests. Earthworm chaetae occurred in 93 of the owls, 38% of the total. Anything from one or two to very large numbers were found, but never any trace of the soft parts of the worm.

Comparing the invertebrate food of the owl in New Zealand with that in England as found by Miss Hibbert Ware (1938), a number of differences are apparent. Five insects were found in England to stand out on account of their great abundance. They were a crane-fly (Tipula sp.), and earwig (Forficula auricularia), a carabid beetle (Pterostichus madidus), a dung beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius) and a cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris). In New Zealand only one tipulid was found, and if some unidentified black eggs were assumed to belong to these flies, the number would only be raised to five. The earwigs, carabid beetles, and lamellicorns, the last being similar to, though smaller than, the European cockchafer, have already been discussed, while a common dung beetle, corre-

sponding to the English Geotrupes, does not occur in this country. Caterpillars occur in the English lists but are not specially mentioned and evidently do not form such an important part of the food as they do here. Other differences are that woodlice, millipedes and small snails are recorded as being common, while in this country they are noticeably infrequent. The work in England was done for the most part on pellet material, but the examination of stomach contents is stated to have given essentially the same results, and the general conclusion was that “the Little Owl feeds to a great extent on what is common on the ground at dusk and by night.” This statement apparently holds good for New Zealand also.

It has been suggested that the owl kills birds and leaves the bodies to attract necrophorous insects, visiting the bait from time to time in order to eat the insects. This fantastic story is discussed by Miss Hibbert Ware (1938), who points out that apart from the impossibility of crediting the owl with a degree of intelligence entirely unknown amongst birds, she found only 75 burying beetles in 2,460 pellets and 76 nest-holes. Necrophorous insects are far less conspicuous in New Zealand than in England, so that this habit is. if possible, even less likely to be found here. One stomach contained 28 maggots, but an insectivorous bird such as this is likely to eat carrion insects as well as others should it happen to find them.

Vertebrate Food.—Representatives of all classes of terrestrial vertebrates were found in the stomachs. Two owls contained small frogs, seven in one and one in the other. One contained four small lizards. Twenty-two owls contained remains of birds (three young owls from the same nest containing remains of one bird), nine remains of mice and one unidentifiable pieces of meat with no hairs, feathers or bones accompanying them. Fragmentary rabbit remains were found in three young birds, all sent in together, so probably from the same nest.

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Table II gives the bird remains, arranged according to species. The individuals of thrush and greenfinch listed as doubtful are represented only by fragments which are too small to make identification certain. The lining of the gizzard is unidentifiable, but probably belonged to a finch, and three stomachs contained feathers which