74 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Sp. 36. SPILOGLAUX BOOBOOK. 



BooBOOK Owl. 



Strix Boobook, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl., p. xv. no. 9. 



Nodua Boobook, Vig, and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 188. 



Spiloglaux bubuk, Kaup, Monog. Strig. in Jard. Cont. to Orn., 1853, 



p. 108. 

 Buck-buck, Aborigines of New South Wales. 

 Goor-goor-da, Aborigines of Western Australia. 

 Mel-in-de-ye, Aborigines of Port Essington. 

 Koor-koo, Aborigines of South Australia. 

 Brown or Cuckoo-Owl of the Colonists. 



Athene Boobook, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol. vol. i. pi. 32. 



I have seen individuals of this Owl from every one of the 

 Australian colonies, all presenting similar characters, with the 

 exception of those from Port Essington, which differ from the 

 others in being a trifle smaller in size and paler in colour. 



In Tasmania this species is seldom seen, while it is very 

 common throughout the whole of the southern portion of 

 the continent. It appears to inhabit alike the brushes and 

 those plains which are studded with belts of trees. It is no 

 unusual occurrence to observe it on the wing in the daytime 

 in search of insects and small birds, upon which it mainly 

 subsists. It may be readily distinguished from Spiloglaux 

 maculatus by its smaller size, and by the spotted markings of 

 its plumage. 



The flight of this bird is tolerably rapid ; and as it passed 

 through the shrubby trees that cover the vast area of the belts 

 of the Murray, it strongly reminded me of a woodcock. In 

 such places travellers frequently flush it from off the ground, 

 to which, after a flight of one or two hundred yards, it either 

 descends again or takes shelter in any thickly foliaged trees 

 that may be at hand. 



It breeds in the holes of the large gum-trees, during the 



