Ornithological and Other Oddities 



of stiff hairy feathers better developed than any 

 others, and many people must have noticed the 

 curious heart-shaped appearance of their faces 

 when they are asleep. They have, perhaps, the 

 most beautiful plumage of all owls ; but in the 

 common barn-owl, which is found almost all over 

 the world, it is very variable, as is the size of the 

 bird. In the English barn-owl, Strix Jlammea 

 of our familiar bird books, the prevailing tone of 

 the upper plumage is buff, and the under-parts 

 are pure snowy white. On the Continent a buff- 

 breasted form with a greyer back is the common 

 one, and the Australian bird, which is bigger than 

 ours, is white below and very grey above, with 

 the beautiful markings of the plumage peculiarly 

 distinct, as the photograph well shows. In the 

 Zoo at present one can see the two forms side by 

 side, together with a peculiarly small and dark 

 variety from the Galapagos Islands (Strix flammed 

 punctatissima). The little black-and-white mark- 

 ings on the upper plumage of these barn-owls are 

 just like drawings of candle-flames, whence, no 

 doubt, the name flammea. 



It is satisfactory to know that the barn-owl is 

 being introduced into New Zealand, one of the 

 few countries where it is not naturally found. 

 The native owls seem to be becoming very 

 scarce, and this species, being the most useful 

 of all, as it feeds almost exclusively on rats and 



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