68 



BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Genus HIERACOGLAUX, Kaup. 



All the species of this and the following genus are partially 

 diurnal. They all have very large eyes ; which in some are 

 pale yellow, while in others they are light brown. I shall 

 commence with the largest member of the present form, H. 

 strenuus, thus reversing the order of the species as arranged 

 in the folio edition of the Bii'ds of AustraHa. 



Sp. 32. HIERACOGLAUX STRENUUS. 



Great Owl of the Brushes. 



Athene^, strenua, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. p. 142. 

 leraglaux strenua, Kaup, Monog. Strig. in Jard. Cout. to Orn., 1852, 

 p. 109. 



Athene strenua, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol. vol. i. pi. 35. 



With the exception of the Eagles, Aquila audax and 

 PoUoaetus leucogaster, this is the most powerful Raptorial 

 bird yet discovered in Australia. Its strength is prodi- 

 gious, and woe to him who ventures to approach it when 

 wounded. So far as I have been able to ascertain, it is 

 an inhabitant of the brushes, particularly those of Victoria 

 and New South Wales which extend along the coast from 

 Port Philip to Moreton Bay. I did, however, obtain it on 

 the precipitous sides of the cedar brushes of the Liverpool 

 range ; in all such situations the silence of night is frequently 

 broken by its hoarse loud mournful note, which more resem- 

 bles the bleating of an ox than any other sound I can compare 

 it to. During the day it reposes under the canopy of the 

 thickest trees, from which however it is readily roused, when 

 it glides down the guUeys with remarkable swiftness ; the 

 manner in which so large a bird threads the trees while flying 

 with such velocity is indeed truly astonishing. 



Its food consists of birds and quadrupeds, of which the 



