The Oivls. 



109 



THE 



BARN-OWL. 



{Styix Jinmmt'a.] 



and towards the ground with the other. The facial disk is ven- evident in Teng- 

 mahn's Owl and is pure white : there are no ear-tufts, and the toes are much more 

 densely clothed with feathers than in the Little Owl, which is of about the same size, 

 and it is much more distinctly spotted with white than the latter bird. The species 

 has occurred on some sixteen occasions in various parts of England and twice 

 in Scotland. It is an inhabitant of the mountains of Europe and Northern Asia, 

 as well as of North America. It feeds on Lemmings and other small rodents, as 

 well as insects. The eggs are white and from four to seven in number, and are 

 laid in holes of trees, an old nesting-place of the Great Black Woodpecker being 

 often thus utili;;ed, as well as the wooden nest-boxes put up b\- the peasants 

 for the Golden-Eye Duck to breed in. 



The very distinct facial <, ^ 



disk, the light orange buff 



colour of the upper plumage 



with its ashy-grey mottlings 

 and black spots, the white or buff under surface, 

 and the pectinated or comb-like margin of the 

 claw on the middle toe, are all characters which 

 serve to distinguish the Barn-Owl at a glance. 

 Though found nesting in every part of the 

 British Islands, it is b}- no means so plentiful 

 in man)- parts of Europe, extending no further 

 north than the south of Sweden and Central 

 Russia, and being apparently absent in Greece 

 and other parts of South-Eastern Europe. Barn- 

 Owls, slightly varying in size and colour from 

 our European bird, are found over the greater 

 part of the tropical and temperate portions 

 of the globe. The food of the species consists 



principally of mice and rats, of which it catches an immense number, going m 

 pursuit of them in the twilight and during the night : it also eats small birds, but 

 does little or no harm to game. The eggs are white, about one-and-a-half inches in 

 length, and are placed at the bottom of a hole in a hollow tree or ruin : no nest is 

 made, but there is generally an assemblage of pellets thrown up by the birds 

 themselves. 



The B.m!n-Owl. 



