VI STRIGIDAE Ar 
Siam; S. brucii, ranging from Transcaspia to India being possibly 
separable. The type species is grey above with the middle of the 
feathers dark, the back being vermiculated with brown and the 
wings spotted with white; the whitish lower parts are more 
streaky and the toes bare. It feeds by night on mice, small 
birds, grasshoppers, moths, and beetles; and utters a melancholy 
metallic single note, which rings monotonously through the woods 
it haunts; in the day it hides in thick cypresses and the like. 
Five or six roundish eggs are deposited in holes in trees, rocks, 
and buildings, or rarely in deserted birds’ nests; no bedding 
being added, though the opposite is the case in some Indian 
species. SS. asio, the Mottled or American Screech-Owl, reaches 
with its different races from Alaska and Canada to Guatemala, 
and is said to have a wailing ery, varied by deep guttural trills. 
S. flammeola occurs from Colorado and California to Guatemala ; 
and thence various species carry the range to Brazil. The 
Ethiopian Region generally is tenanted by S. leucotis, the Gold 
Coast by S. icterorhynchus, Anjuan in the Comoros by S. capnodes, 
Madagascar by S. ruti/us—though this is said to be a form of 
S. magicus, extending from Celebes to about New Guinea; the 
Indian Region and the Moluccas possess a large number of 
species, among which S. gymnopus of India (with half-naked 
metatarsi like S, nudipes of Veragua) may be mentioned. 
Bubo ignavus, the Eagle-Owl, which visits Britain, and is the 
Grand Due of the French, is blackish-brown above, with yellowish- 
rufous mottlings and interrupted wing- and tail-bars; it is 
yellowish-buff below with blackish streaks and indistinct trans- 
verse markings. The facial discs are fairly distinct, the head- 
tufts are long, and the toes thickly feathered. This fierce species, 
one of the largest of the Family, inhabits rugged mountains and 
forests throughout Europe, Asia north of the Himalayas to Japan, 
and North Africa; it is partly diurnal, and preys chiefly upon 
hares, rabbits, large game birds, and rodents, being said moreover 
to attack fawns. The flight is powerful, though undulating and 
flapping ; the cry is a deep “ hoo, hoo,” occasionally sounding like 
a laugh or neigh. Two, or rarely three, roundish eggs are de- 
posited in holes scraped in the soil on rocky ledges or on banks, 
in disused birds’ nests, in hollow trees, or even between their 
branches or roots; little lining, if any, being added. Nearly allied 
forms are B. turcomanus of South-West Siberia and Turkestan, 
