404 OWLS 



" give an owl a bad name," to parody a familiar proverb — and every 

 owl in every country of the world is regarded with aversion by the 

 ignorant as a bird of evil omen — and nothing will save it from destruc- 

 tion whenever opportunity occurs. Not unnaturalls', small birds re- 

 gard all owls as their enemies, and mob and hustle them whenever 

 the}' make their appearance in the open. Too laz)- to make a nest, the 

 barn-owl la}'s its clutch of from three to six eggs on the floor of its 

 roosting-place ; sometimes with no protection at all, but at others 

 surrounded b\- a ring of its own disgorged castings. It should be 

 added that, as a very exceptional thing, young barn-owls have been 

 taken in England in November and December. The second name 

 of the species is taken from its well-known blood-curdling screech, 

 uttered chiefly in the breeding-season, and sometimes while on the 

 wing. As the species is found everywhere in the British Islands, 

 nesting as far north as Caithness and the Inner Hebrides, no remarks 

 on local distribution are required. 



Barn-owls are sometimes distinctl}- luminous at night, probably 

 owing to their plumage having come in contact with phosphorescent 

 bacteria developed in the deca)-ing wood of their roosting resorts. 



A remarkable instance of the capture of a barn-owl and a rat in 

 the same trap has been recorded ; the bird being in the act of seizing 

 its victim as the jaws of the trap closed to embrace both in its iron 



grip- 



. J « 1 The long-cared owl is the typical representative of 



Long-eared Owl ° j i i 



, . . . , the second family of the group — the Asionidre 



(Asio otus). "^ . 



(equivalent to the Bubonidae of man\' naturalists) — 



which includes all the other species. From the Strigida: the Asionidai 



are distinguished internally by the presence of a couple of deep notches 



on each side of the hind border of the breast-bone, which is quite free 



from the merry-thought, or furcula. Externally they all agree, and 



thereby differ from the barn-owl, in having the second and basal joints 



of the middle front-toe approximately equal in length. 



Both the long-eared and the short-eared owl (to be mentioned next) 



are " horned " species, w hich differ from all other British representatives 



of the group in the great size of the openings of the ears ; these 



extending forwards from the gape to a point above the pupil of the 



eye on each side, and being protected by a very large flap, or cover. 



As its name implies, the present species is easily distinguished from its 



relative by the greater length of the ear-tufts, or " horns " ; while it is 



further characterised by the presence of faint dusk\' transverse stipplings 



