6o British Birds, 



— and they do vary vastly in size — is common to 

 every one of the eggs. They are all white ; they are 

 all very slightly oval, or very nearly round, and you 

 cannot tell which is meant to be the big end, and 

 which the little. Of course, this being the case, it 

 would be of very little use to take up the small space 

 available for illustration in this book, with representa- 

 tions of Owls' eggs ; and for the same reason, as little 

 as possible will be said in the way of description. 

 Any Owl's eggs which are likely to come under the 

 notice of the school-boy nest-hunter will tell him a 

 good deal about their origin, by their size and the 

 place they are found in ; and the best picture and de- 

 scription possible would not be able to teach him half 

 as much. 



Just as the bones, noticed a page or two back, 

 would be found to show that there was a sort of ap- 

 proach to something like a noticeable connection 

 between the Harriers and the Owls, so the eggs of the 

 former seem to hint at something of the same kind. 

 The merry-thought and breast-bone of the Harriers 

 are vastly less strong and solid than those of the true 

 Falcons ; and, so to speak, intermediate in such re- 

 spects between these and those of the truest Owl, 

 while the eggs are colourless or nearly so, and so 

 approach again to the Owl type. 



TAWNY OWL — {Strix aliico; formerly, Syr7iium 

 striduld). 



Brown Owl, Wood Owl, Hoot Owl, Ivy Owl, Jenny 

 Howlet. — This is the bird whose well-known and, as 

 I think, musical note, is so often heard at night in 



