A. Nagle’s scientific contributions

Mammalian prey of barn owls Tyto alba in various district electoral divisions in County Cork was examined against areas under cereals, sugar-beet, potatoes, other crops, hay, pasture, silage, rough grazing, woodland and the residual area - including farms of less than 5ha, commercial conifer stands and unimproved land - in those divisions. House mice Mus domesticus, the most variable constituent in the prey (<1% to 75%) and occurring mainly around farmsteads, were strongly associated with other crops, the largest component of which is fodder beet. The latter is correlated with cereal-based fodder concentrates stored on farms, which, we argue, largely determine the population of house mice. Other consistent positive associations were between field mice Apodemus sylvaticus and residual area; pygmy shrew Sorex minutus and woodland; and common rat Rattus norvegicus and potatoes. Using polychotomous stepwise logistic regression, mathematical models were constructed with land categories as independent variables and numbers of the different prey species as dependent variables. Such models can predict prey from data on land use. The most important explanatory variable was other crops, particularly for house mice. Pasture, which provides minimal cover and food for small mammals, was not an explanatory variable. Refinements in the collection of data, to improve models, are suggested.