NOCTUA. 173 
Genus NOCTUA. 
The Little Owls were first separated from the genus Stviv by Gerini in 
1767, in his ‘Ornithologia Methodice Digesta,’ i. p. 87, under the name 
of Noctua, a name which was afterwards adopted (in 1810) by Savigny. 
Neither of these ornithologists indicated any type; but inasmuch as the 
Little Owl is the Noctua vulgaris of Gerini and the Strix noctua of 
Scopoli, it has every right to be considered the type. 
The Little Owls may be distinguished from all other Owls by the 
nostrils being placed in a projection formed by an inflation of the cere. 
Their habits do not differ from those of the other Owls; but their food is 
more insectivorous. Their eggs are pure white in colour. 
The genus Noctua contains upwards of fifty species, which are distributed 
over the whole world—principally confined to the tropical regions, a few 
species being found in the Nearctic and Palearctic Regions. Only two 
or three are European, of which but one has been found in the British 
Islands. 
