STRIGIDAE 409 



Cuckoo visits Australia and there assumes nocturnal habits. The 

 flight is rapid and Woodcock-like, the three eggs are deposited in 

 holes in trees, with no nest. J\^. (^Spiloglaux) novae zealandiae, of 

 New Zealand, called from its cry " More-pork," ^ is dark brown 

 above w4th white spots on the scapulars and wing-coverts, and is 

 tawny with brown streaks below. By day it hides in trees or 

 crevices of rocks, and appears at dusk- to prey on rats, mice, birds, 

 lepidoptera, beetles, and crickets. Besides the usual note, a shrill 

 scream or croak is not unfrequently heard ; the young make a snor- 

 ing noise, and adults click the beak when angry. Two or three 

 eggs are laid in hollow trees or under boulders. Of other species N. 

 maculata is restricted to Tasmania and Norfolk Island, JV. albaria 

 to Lord Howe Island, iV! ohscura and JV. affinis to the Andamans 

 and perhaps the Nicobars, and JSf. natalis to Christmas Island, 

 Indian Ocean ; while from the Philippines and Celebes to the 

 Solomons the numbers increase greatly, and many islands have 

 their own peculiar forms. 



Gymnoglaux nudipes of the Antilles, remarkable for its 

 unusually bare metatarsi, is brown above and white below, with 

 rufous barring throughout ; G. laiarencii of Cuba having the leg- 

 feathers less extended, and being spotted with white on the more 

 uniform upper surface. Spcotyto cunicularia, the Burrowing Owl, 

 a comparatively long-legged and short-winged bird with incom- 

 plete facial discs and un feathered toes, is umber-brown varied 

 with yellowish and white, the lower parts becoming lighter. From 

 the confines of British Columbia it extends through the Western 

 and Southern United States, a few of the Antilles, and the greater 

 part of the Neotropical Eegion, several fairly distinct races having 

 been described. Large communities in North America occupy 

 the burrows of prairie-dogs, rats, ground-squirrels, or badgers ; in 

 South America those of the biscacha, the Patagonian hare, and 

 even of armadillos and large lizards ; but they are said to make 

 their own holes, if necessary. The homes seem usually to be shared 

 by the separate pairs with the original owners, and sometimes with 

 intruders such as rattlesnakes ; while a nest of grass, feathers, 

 and rubbish is made at the further end, where from five to ten 

 eggs may be found, surrounded by castings. Mainly diurnal and 

 generally fearless, these birds fly strongly for short distances, and 

 procure their food of small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects, 



^ Not to be confounded with the "More-pork" Nightjar of Tasmania (p. 417). 



