CARINE NOCTUA GLAUX 75 



from southern regions, while specimens from central or interlying 

 districts are intermediately coloured. Where the darker and paler 

 forms meet, it is more than probable that mating occurs between 

 them, as mentioned by Canon Tristram. 



This little Owl is resident, and one of the commonest birds in 

 Tunisia, being universally distributed throughout the Regency, and 

 apparently as much at home on the arid wastes and barren mountains 

 of the south, as it is in the green and fertile districts of the north. 

 In Central Tunisia the species is also remarkably abundant among the 

 olive-groves, which cover a lai'ge extent of that part of the country. 

 The " Booma," as this Owl is called by the Arabs, seems to be particu- 

 larly partial to olive-trees, the gnarled and hollow trunks of which 

 doubtless aflord shelter and convenient nesting sites for the birds. 



Being to a certain extent diurnal, as well as fearless and unsus- 

 picious, or perhaps what some might call stupid, this Owl is constantly 

 in evidence, and may often be closely approached before it takes flight. 

 I have even known it allow a railway train to dash past, as it perched 

 on the permanent way within but two or three feet of the rails. The 

 bird was probably too much dazed by the sudden and noisy approach 

 of the train, to be capable of using its wings, or of moving at all. 



Old well-shafts are favourite resorts of these Owls, both for shelter 

 as well as, during the breeding-season, for nesting, and the Arabs 

 frequently take the birds alive in such spots. Owing to the facility 

 with which it is tamed, and its adaptability in confinement, the 

 species is much used by continental bird-catchers, particularly in Italy, 

 as a lure for small birds. Any species of Owl, however, will answer 

 this purpose, and I have known an Eagle-Owl thus used with great 

 success. Although generally seen singly, or in pairs, the Little Owl 

 may occasionally be met with in small parties, and in districts where 

 the species is plentiful, as many as a dozen or more individuals may 

 be found together. The food of this Owl consists chiefly of small 

 rodents and birds, but it also eats insects, and in South Tunisia 

 frequently preys upon locusts. 



Its note, like that of the Scops-Owl, is sad and plaintive, and when 

 heard incessantly, for hours together, as I have often heard it when 

 camping near the home of a pair of the birds, it is irritatingly 

 monotonous. The note may be fairly well rendered by the mono- 

 syllable "cic" or " queiv," softly repeated once or twice, the call of 

 the male bird being in a different key from that of the female. 



