TAWNY OWLS.



Sir,—I should be glad if you or any of your readers could tell me


(I) What weight of meat or liver per diem a full grown Tawny Owl requires

to keep in good health ? (2) How long their eggs take to hatch ? (3) At

what age are the young able to feed themselves ? (4) Do they commence


nesting as early as the beginning of April ? I think mine must have

commenced nesting on the 6tli, but I have been afraid to watch them very

closely for fear that they might desert. Chas. Cushny.



The following reply was sent to Mr. Cushny :


(1) The amount of meat for a full grown Tawny Owl would be about

one-tliird the size of a rat or a little over, supposing it to be all lean.

Young birds after the first moult would require as much, if not more. I

generally fast all my Owls once a week, but it w'ould not be advisable to do

so if they were nesting. They require some fur in the shape of rats or

fowls’ heads frequently, and the more freshly killed the better.


(2) The duration of incubation is, I believe, a little over three weeks.


(3) The young are able to feed themselves at about a mouth or five

weeks old; but in a wild state they are fed by the parents for over two

months, as they are unable to capture their own food.


(4) They are one of the earliest English birds to nest, eggs being


frequently found in March. J. Lewis BonhoTE.



“ WHAT’S IN A NAME ?”


Sir,— In my little sketch of the Black-headed Sibia, I made a state¬

ment respecting the species which has not been confirmed by my further

experiences of the bird, and which I shall be obliged if you will kindly

give me an opportunity of modifying. At the top of page 77 of the

current volume, I said, “they mainly rely on their spring for taking their

prey, never flying like a Flycatcher.” This year my Sibias, although not

taking their prey quite in the orthodox P'lycatcher fashion, will fly any

distance that their aviary will permit after winged inserts, and evidently

prefer this form of food to any which it is in my power to supply.


I cordially thank Mr. Finn for the information he gives us (p. 145)

about this attractive species, and agree with most of what he says. Never¬

theless, taking as an instance a bird to which he refers, one in which I take

much interest and a pair of which I have kept, it must be admitted that

the word “ Koel ” conveys absolutely no meaning whatever to the majority

of English readers, whilst the name “ Cuckoo” awakens some glimmer of

intelligence in the mind of even the densest Britisher. Why, the late Mr.

Abrahams was unacquainted with the name “ Koel,” when I applied it a

few years ago to a male “ Indian Cuckoo ” which he had in his shop !


A new bird has somewhat recently arrived in this country, common

■enough in India I suppose, but hitherto unknown to us poor stay-at-home

bodies. I refer to the Rufous-chiuned Laugliing-Thrusli. Now this is as

unwieldy a name as “ Black-headed Tree-babbler,” but it gives us an idea

of the bird and of the species, whereas “ Rufous-chinned Trochalopterum ”

or “Rufous-chinned Ianthocincla ” would be a mouthful to swallow all at



