Protection of Tasmanian owls

I desire to bring to the notice of the Fellows of the Royal Society to-night the advisability of protecting the owls of Tasmania, inasmuch as they are the most useful vermin killers of any known family of birds, while at the same time no birds are more persecuted by well-meaning people through, ignorance of their true mode of life and also by pot-hunters in search of so-called sport. It is thought by the majority of people that owls destroy birds to a great extent, whereas, in reality, there are few species of this large family which are partial to birds. Owls are either twilight or night feeders, at which time vermin or other small animals are chiefly about, and, therefore, in the economy of nature, they form the natural food of these birds.