Some Exotic Owls 



was obviously the more suspicious character as 

 far as appearances went. 



Another humorous owl at the Zoo is the wink- 

 ing owl (Ninox connivens), which, as the photo- 

 graph shows, was obviously doing his best, when 

 confronted with the camera, to show that he does 

 not deserve his name. He is an Australian bird, 

 and is given to loquacity, though a gruff barking 

 note like "buck-buck" is the extent of his con- 

 versation. He represents a group which differs 

 from other owls in not having the peculiar ruff 

 round the face which is so often found in these 

 birds, but no one would mistake him for a hawk 

 for all that. One of the most noticeable, and at 

 the same time most inexplicable, differences be- 

 tween owls and hawks is that the former sit with 

 only two toes in front of the perch, the outer 

 front one being turned back as in a parrot, though 

 not so definitely and permanently as in that bird ; 

 and what with this and the round face, with the 

 forwardly directed eyes and full feathering, the 

 predatory birds of day and night are so distinct 

 that the most hawk-like owl and most owl-like 

 hawk need never be mistaken. 



At the opposite extreme of owlishness to the 

 winking owl, we have the barn-owl, a specimen 

 of the Australian race of which (Strix flammed 

 dclicatula) is shown in an attitude of defence. 

 The barn-owls have the ruff and the "facial disk" 



i33 



