OWLS. 



327 



fectly bare of feathers or bristles, and covered with small irregular-shaped plates, as in 

 the tarsal covering of falcons. 



The genus Athene, in which the burrowing-owl was formerly placed, as now 

 framed includes but two species, one of which, the little owl of Europe, Athene noctua, 

 is the bird which among the Greeks was sacred to Pallas Athene, and is so often 

 represented with the Goddess of Wisdom on their coins and sculptures ; " but," says 

 Newton, "those who know the grotesque actions and ludicrous expression of this 

 veritable buffoon of birds can never cease to wonder at its having been seriously 

 selected as the symbol of learning, and can hardly divest themselves of the suspicion 

 that the choice must have been made in the spirit of sarcasm." For many of the 

 following notes on this species we are indebted to the excellent account of it given in 

 Dresser's " Birds of Europe." 



It is from eight to nine inches in length, or a trifle smaller than the common 

 mottled-owl of the United States. Its color above is brown with white markings, 



O ' 



stripes on the head, spots on the back, wing-coverts, etc., and bars on the wings and 

 tail. 



Below, it is buffy white, with dark-brown stripes or longitudinal dashes. Through 

 central and southern Europe it is a common and well-known owl, but rarely reaches 

 England or Sweden, though found regularly in Denmark. 



Its favorite haunts are in the neighborhood of towns, though it is frequently met 

 with in the country, and in Holland is usually found in the orchards close to farm- 

 houses. In such places it usually nests in the hollow of a tree, laying from three to 

 five eggs without any sign of a nest, but ordinarily it prefers deserted buildings, 

 church-towers, ruins, chinks of rocky walls, or the crevices of bushy cliffs. According 

 to Mr. Keulemans, these little owls have a strong aversion to water. He has kept 

 them in a cage for more than a year without giving them any, while " it is a curious 

 fact than when they get wet, either by heavy rain or by being placed in a damp spot, 

 they have fits and remain insensible for hours, and sometimes it causes their death." 

 In Italy it is known as the ' civetta,' and Mr. Charles Waterton says of it : " This 

 diminutive rover of the night is much prized by the gardeners of Italy for its uncom- 

 mon ability in destroying insects, snails, slugs, reptiles, and mice. There is scarcely 

 an out-house in the gardens and vineyards of that country which is not tenanted by 

 the civetta. 



"It is often brought up tame from the nest, and in the month of September is sold 

 for a dollar to sportsmen, who take it with them in their excursions through the 

 country to look for larks and other small birds. Perched on the top of a pole it 

 attracts their notice, and draws them within the fatal range of gunshot by its most 

 singular gestures; for, standing bolt upright, it curtsies incessantly, with its head 

 somewhat inclined forwards, while it keeps its eyes fixed on the approaching object. 

 This odd movement is peculiar to the civetta alone ; by it the birds of the neighbor- 

 hood are decoyed to their destruction ; hence its value to the ranging sportsman. 



"Often and anon, as the inhabitants of Rome pass through the bird-market at the 

 Pantheon, they stop and look and laugh at this pretty little captive owl whilst it is 

 performing its ridiculous gesticulations." Like many other owls which prefer the dusk 

 for hunting, it is, nevertheless, often abroad in the daytime, ('specially when it has 

 young to feed. It would seem to suffer less from the glare of the sun than from the 

 persecutions of small birds which often follow it about in large numbers, harassing it 

 continually from every side. In Germany, according to Naumann, it has a variety of 



