BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 203 

 THE LITTLE OWL 



(Athene noctua). 



The Little Owl is a quaint Owl of small size which 

 has visited our islands in the natiu-al course, but is now 

 also a breeding species, having been introduced into several 

 localities, from which it has spread to a considerable 

 extent. The eggs and nesting habits are of the type 

 usual in the Order. 



To judge from the representations on coins and sculp- 

 tures, it was this species that was the classic emblem 

 of wisdom, the bird of the goddess Pallas Athene, or 

 Minerva. But an ornithological authority remarks that 

 ' those who know the grotesque actions and ludicrous 

 expression of this veritable buffoon of birds can never 

 cease to wonder at its having been seriously selected as 

 the symbol of learning, and can hardly divest themselves 

 of a suspicion that the choice must have been made in 

 the spirit of sarcasm.' 



