BARN-OWL. 289 



two toes in front and two behind. They are raptorial, suited 

 for grasping or snatching prey. The bill is strongly curved and 

 hooked ; the eyes are directed forward, and usually surrounded 

 by a well-marked facial disc. The plumage is soft and downy, 

 noiseless in flight. 



Family FLAMMEID.^, Barn-Owls. 

 Barn-Owl. Flam7nea flammea (Linn.). 



The Barn-Owl (Plate 119), a resident in Britain, is found 

 throughout southern Europe, northern Africa and western 

 Asia. In central Europe the Dark-breasted Barn-Owl, F. f. 

 guttata (Brehm), replaces this paler form, and a few individuals 

 of this sub-species have reached our south and south-eastern 

 coast as wanderers in autumn and winter. 



Of all the owls the White or Barn-Owl is the best known, for 

 it is more frequently associated with human habitations than 

 other species. It is often described as white, the under parts 

 being most noticeable when, with desultory flight, it reels and 

 wavers through the dusk. Crepuscular and nocturnal in its 

 habits, it eludes observation ; it appears, a noiseless shadow, 

 and vanishes at once, for its soft pinions make no sound. It 

 is, however, a familiar inhabitant of old buildings, church 

 towers, and house gables, even frequenting thickly populated 

 suburbs. Jardine was certain that the Barn-Owl hooted, but 

 all depends upon what is implied by a hoot ; the ordinary note 

 is a hisSjlieard first when the downy young, perched outside the 

 nesting hole, continually call for food. The old bird also 

 hisses. A captive always greeted me with a hiss and an amiable, 

 contented chirrup when I brought food. In young the hiss 

 deepens into a snore, but the usual call of the old bird is a loud, 

 weird scream or screech, from which the bird gets the name of 

 Screech Owl. This begins with a hiss, but continues as an 



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