Io6 ALLEN'S naturalist's LIBRARY. 



M. Godlewski, a well-known Siberian traveller and collector, 

 speaks of one of these birds which became very tame in con- 

 finement, and imitated the crowing of a cock, the howling of 

 a dog, and the cries of other domestic animals. 



Nest. — None. The eggs are generally placed in a hollow 

 tree, the holes of the Great Black Woodpecker being often 

 used ; and Wolley, to whom we owe much of our knowledge of 

 the breeding habits of the present species, obtained some eggs 

 from the nest-boxes which are put by the inhabitants for the 

 Golden-eye Duck to breed in. These nesting-places are formed 

 of pieces of logs, hollowed out and with a hole cut in the side. 

 The bird breeds early in May, even in its northern home, and 

 eggs were taken by Wolley at the end of May and during 

 June. 



Eggs. — From four to seven, and, Mr. Howard Saunders says, 

 occasionally as many as ten. They are white, and vary in 

 shape, some being rounder and some more elongated. Axis, 

 I •3 inch ; diam., i"o5. 



THE WHITE OWLS. FAMILY STRIGID.'E. 



Apart from their peculiar and unmistakeable visage, the 

 White Owls differ from all the other members of the Order 

 Striges in two easily recognisable characters. One of these 



Middle toe of Sirix flammea^ to show the pectination of the claw. 

 [From the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, vol. ii. p. 290.] 



consists in having the inner and middle toes of about equal 

 length, while the middle toe has a pectinated or comb like 

 cdije on its inner aspect. 



