SOME USEFUL AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 47 



destroyer of insects, it is as an active enemy of mice, rats, and all kinds of 

 small destructive rodents that this owl does so much valuable service to the 



farmer. 



The Boobook Owl (Ninox hoohook Latham) 

 Gould Handbook, vol. I, p. 74, No. 36 ; Leach's Bird Book, p. 85, No. 175. 



This bird is also known as the Brown or Cuckoo-owl, and was described 

 in Gould's Handbook under the name of Athene Boohook. He says that the 

 native name of this owl was " Buck-buck," in reference to its call-note, but 

 the hoot of the Boobook Owl is " more-pork," sharp and distinct. It is 

 somewhat remarkable that the popular idea was, and still is in many places, 

 that the Frogmouth (Podargus curveri), another quaint night bird, was 

 responsible for the weird night-cry of " more-pork." 



This owl is peculiar to Australia, with a very wide range over the country, 

 and is also recorded from Lord Howe Island. Though so noisy at night, 

 when driven out of its resting-place into the bright sunshine it utters no 

 sound, but, dazed by the unwelcome light, flutters away to more secure cover, 

 at the mercy of all the small birds in the neighbourhood that gather together 

 and hunt it away, looking upon it as a probable enemy. At twilight and 

 night-time the Boobook Owl is active and alert, floating along silently in 

 search of mice or small roosting birds, which it picks up in its powerful claws 

 as it flies past, and in the same way catches beetles and night-flying or 

 feeding insects. Gould states, and other writers have copied his statements, 

 that this owl feeds chiefly upon orthoptera (tree grasshoppers, phasmids, &c.) 

 and neuroptera (lace-winged insects) ; but these are only a minor portion of 

 its food. Its chief value is as a hunter of mice, and when a pair of the birds 

 take up their quarters near the farmer's outhouses they should be carefully 

 encouraged to remain. I examined a large series of cast pellets voided by a 

 pair of these owls that had selected the hayshed at Wagga Experiment Farm 

 as their headquarters, and they consisted almost entirely of mouse fur and 

 bones, with here and there a few green feathers that suggested that a green 

 grass parrot had been caught napping. 



The nesting habits are similar to those of the Delicate Owl, but the clutch 

 only comprises three eggs, round and white, resting on the decayed wood in 

 the bottom of the hollow limb. 



The Bee-eater {Merops ornatus Latham), 

 Gould's Handbook, Vol. I, p. 117, No. 58 ; Leach's Bird Book, p. 107, No. 224. 



This handsome little bird belongs to an interesting family, not related to 

 any other of our birds, but allied to the Oriental Hoopoos, remarkable for 

 their crown of upright feathers. The members of the family Meropidce range 

 over southern Europe, Africa, and Asia, and the distinctive group to which 

 our species belongs contains seventeen species, distinguished from the other 

 bee-eaters by having the two central tail feathers elongated. 



Our Bee-eater is found all over Australia, frequenting open forest country 

 and the timber along river banks and creeks. It can easily be distinguished 

 from other birds, when at rest or on the wing, by its slender black bill, 



