I 26 D'Ombrain, Some Birds of the Castcrton District. \ th"jan 



and on one occasion when a fowl strayed into the yard where 

 the Kestrel was kept (with cut wing) he fastened his talons 

 into the hen's back. The hen simply , raced round in fright 

 till the little savage was dislodged. The Hawk is still alive. These 

 little Hawks generally breed in October and November here ; 

 clutch generally four, but frequently five. 



28/10/03. — Nest in hole in red gum tree. Clutch of four eggs 

 taken. On 8/1 1/03 there was another egg laid by this pair in 

 another hole. On ist December the birds had changed to 

 another nesting-hole, where they laid five eggs. 



Masked Owl {Strix novce-hollandicB) . — This district is a good 

 one for Owls, of which there are five species. 



I have, in a previous number of The Emu* recorded the 

 finding of the nesting-hole of the fine Masked Owl, and was 

 enabled to furnish the dimensions of the egg from the remnants 

 (about three- fourths of the shell) found in the nest, which con- 

 tained a fledged young one. These Owls play great havoc with 

 the rabbits caught in the traps set by the rabbiters. It was by 

 this means that a good live specimen was caught, and given to 

 me. The trap was " muffled," and a freshly-killed rabbit placed 

 near it. In a few minutes the Owl flew down from a fence 

 post, where he had been watching the proceedings, and walked 

 into the trap, and was promptly secured. The nest-hole, and 

 indeed any hole used for camping in, of both this and the Lesser 

 Masked Owl, has always a great quantity of bones of rabbits 

 and birds in it, and the ground at the foot of the tree is always 

 dotted about with castings, or " pellets," of the undigested parts 

 of their food. I have also seen the bones of the lesser flying 

 squirrel {Phalangcr) in the hollow. Many declare that the 

 Masked Owl attacks very young lambs, but this is scarcely 

 proven. The bird I had alive measured 3 ft. 8 in. from tip to 

 tip of wings, had enormous talons, and when standing upright 

 measured about 24 in. It is my custom, usually, to photograph 

 any live specimens, but I regret to say that in this instance I 

 omitted to do so, but at once chloroformed the bird and skinned 

 it. The colouring of the plumage is very beautiful. All the 

 back of head, wings, and tail much resemble in colour the fur of 

 a tortoiseshell cat. The breast is snow-white, but sparingly 

 spotted with black, the spots not large, and situated at the end, 

 or tip, of the shaft of the feather. The bill is of horn colour for 

 about a third of the distance from the tip, shading gradually 

 to a purple colour at the base. The facial disc is composed of 

 fine, stifTsilvery feathers, which broaden at the tips, giving them an 

 oar shape, some having a warm wash of purplish hue, deepening 

 round the eyes, which are liquid or inky blue-black. This hue 

 gives the disc a general purple appearance. The edge of the 

 disc appears to be composed of two circles, the inner one con- 

 taining mostly pure white, while the outer shades from fawn 



* Vol. ii., p. 184. 



