C)C) BIRDS OF TrXIRIA 



In Alf];eria and Marocco the Barii-Ou'l is to lie met with more or 

 less abvmdantly. Specimens in my collection from the north of the 

 latter country, seem to be rather darker in colour than the majority 

 of those from Tunisia. 



Notwithstanding its undoubted utility to mankind in general and 

 to the farmer in particular, this poor bird is as much persecuted in 

 Tunis as elsewhere, for the sake of its feathers, which are greatly in 

 request for ornamenting ladies' hats. The superstitious dislike in 

 which the bird is generally held by ignorant folk may also have a 

 good deal to do with the cruel war which is waged against it. 



The food of the Barn-Owl consists mainly of mice of different 

 kinds, but rats and other small mammals are also eaten as well as 

 bats, and occasionally small birds, and even insects. In the desert- 

 districts of the Regency, Jerboas and Gerbilles form the bird's 

 principal prey, and their remains may constantly be found in the 

 nesting holes of this Owl. Its noiseless flight, due to the exquisitely 

 soft character of its plumage, enables it to approach and seize its 

 victim without difficulty, and a single pair of these birds, with their 

 young, are sufficient to keep down the vermin within a considerable 

 radius of their abode. The young have voracious appetites, and in 

 countries where food is scarce it is as much as their parents can do 

 to find a sufficient supply. Loche mentions a case that came under 

 his notice of a pair of Barn-Owls bringing from fifteen to twenty 

 small rodents every night to their brood of three j'oung birds. 



Apparently the young are able to walk about, and pick up the food 

 their parents bring them, while still covered with down. 



Owing to its strictly nocturnal habits, this species is less often 

 seen than it is heard, its shrill cry or shriek, being plainly audible in 

 the stillness of the night at a considerable distance. Besides this cry, 

 the bird has another and totally different note, which is more of a 

 snort, and which seems to be uttered by both old and young. 



The Barn-Owl breeds, as a rule, in old buildings and hollow trees, 

 and occasionally in cliffs, laying three to six pure white eggs without 

 gloss ; the average measurements of the eggs are 36 x 31 mm. No 

 true nest is made, but the refuse of the birds' food, and their castings, 

 may often be found surrounding the eggs or nestlings. 



This Owl is subject to considerable variation in coloration, and 

 has been subdivided under various names. Pale examples from 

 Tunisia have been distinguished under the name of S. Jiammea 



