322 BIRDS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



2. Sceloglmix. S. albifrons. White-faced Owl. 



3. Spiloglaiix. S. novce zelandicos. New Zealand Owl. 



4. Ninox. N. boobook. Boobook Owl. 



A^. novc^ selandke. New Zealand Owl. 



The White-Faced, or White-Fronted Owl of New 

 Zealand is named somewhat incorrectly, for it has not got 

 either a white face or a white front, but round its eyes, at 

 some distance from them, is an indistinct ring of a creamy 

 white colour, dotted with minute black specks. The 

 general colour is tawny browm, strongly marked with 

 black ; the legs and toes are covered with minute hair-like 

 feathers of a buff colour. The iris is hazel or dark 

 brown, and not as large as usuallj' happens in the family 

 to which it belongs. 



The New Zealand Spiloglaux is generally not unlike 

 the last, but it lacks the ring round the eyes, and is 

 darker, especiallj' on the back, where are a number of 

 tawny yellow spots. The eyes are yellow, and the bird is 

 smaller than the preceding. 



In both cases the sexes are alike, except that the females 

 are larger than their mates. 



The Boobook Owl — so called from its cry — is generally 

 known among the colonists as the cuckoo, and, as Mr. 

 Wood observes, the fact of its calling in the night is 

 noticed as an instance of the perversity of the Australian 

 climate, which reverses the usual operations of Nature, and 

 forces the cuckoo to take the place of the nightingale and 

 pour forth its song at night. 



