THE HAWK OWL. 59 



ness and its habit of flying about by day. In the summer 

 season it feeds principally on mice and insects ; but in the 

 snow-clad regions, which it frequents in the winter, neither 

 of these are to be procured, and it then preys principally 

 on Ptarmigans. It is a constant attendant on the flocks 

 of Ptarmigans in their spring migration to the northward. 

 It builds its nest on a tree, of sticks, grass, and feathers, 

 and lays two white eggs. "When the hunters are shooting 

 grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the report of 

 the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird being killed, 

 to pounce do^vn upon it, though unable, from its size, to 

 carry it oil. 



THE LITTLE OWL. 



NOCTUA PASSERINA. 



Upper plumage greyisli brown, spotted with white ; under, yellowish white with 

 longitudinal brown marks, a broad dull white band across the throat ; beak 

 brownish white ; irides very small, yellow ; tarsi feathered, toes sprinkled 

 with a few white hairs. Length nine inches. Eggs white. 



This grotesque-looking bird, whose physiognomy cannot 

 but remind one of a wizened face furnished with spectacles 

 and a sharp nose, is common in most countries of Europe, 

 resorting by day to ruins and holes in trees. Here it has 

 the dangerous custom of revealing its retreat by repeatedly 

 uttering its wearisome note, which is so incessant and so 

 harsh that " to cry like a little owl," has, in some districts 

 of France, passed into a proverb of reproach. A writer, 

 however, in the " Zoologist," is of a different opinion, and 

 reckons its singidar and plaintive note among the pleasant 

 sounds of the country. I have myself heard it for several 

 consecutive nights in the woods of Somersetshire, if indeed, 

 as I suspected, the repeated cry, "Ftveek, k'week,'' came 

 from this species. Though there was nothing melodious 

 in the sound, I was inclined to consider it as a pleasing 



