OWLS. 



Owls are nocturnal birds of prey, and at twilight 

 take up the work of the day-feeding Hawks. While 

 they ao great good in ridding the earth of mischiev- 

 ous rodents, it must be said that they are destructive 

 to woodland birds and other harmless creatures. 



The plumage of Owls is so soft and downy that it 

 offers but slight resistance to the air and their flight 

 is practically noiseless. They catch their prey in their 

 talons and small victims are swallowed whole, the in- 

 digestible portions — bones, hair or feathers — being 

 afterwards ejected from the mouth in the form of pel- 

 lets. Numbers of these pellets will be found about the 

 roosting places of Owls. 



Owls' eyes are in front instead of at the sides, as are 

 those of other birds, and they are fixed so that the 

 birds cannot roil them, but must alwavs move the head 

 to look about; curiously enough, they have the power 

 of turning the head entirely around from front to 

 back. In the Owl family, as in that of Hawks, the 

 females are larger than the males. 



Several of our Owls may be seen in cages at the 

 Zoo. 



American Barn Owl; Monkey-faced Owl: Strix 

 pratincola. 



Length i8 inches. 



Upper parts mixed gray and yellow, speckled with white 

 and black. 



Under parts varying from white to bright tawny, dotted 

 with small round black spots. 



Face triangular in shape. Eyes small and black. 



Resident (not rare) all the year. 



While most Owls inhabit woods, the Barn Owl lives 

 in barns, church-belfries and similar places. In the 



