OWL 679 
many representations on coins and sculptures, as to their subject 
being the Carine noctua of modern ornithologists, but those who 
know the grotesque actions and ludicrous 
expression of this veritable buffoon of birds 
can never cease to wonder at its having been 
seriously selected as the symbol of learning, 
and can hardly divest themselves of a sus- 
picion that the choice must have been made 
HEAD OF CARINE. in the spirit of sarcasm. This Little Owl (for 
OS ae that is its only English name—though it is 
not even the smallest that appears in England), the Chevéche of 
the French, is spread throughout the greater part of Europe, but 
it is not a native of Britain.! It has a congener in C. brama, a bird 
well known to all residents in India. 
Finally, we have Owls of the second section, those allied to the 
Screech-Owl, Aluco flammeus, the Effraie® of the French. This, 
with its discordant scream, its snoring, and its hissing, is far too 
well known to need description, for it is one of the most widely- 
spread of birds, and is 
the Owl that has the 
greatest geographical 
range, inhabiting almost 
every country in the 
world, — Sweden and 
Norway, America north 
of lat. 45°, and New 
Zealand being the prin- 
cipal exceptions. It 
varies, however, not in- 
considerably, both in 
size and intensity of 
colour, and several orni- 
thologists have tried to 
found on these varia- 
tions more than half a 
dozen distinct species. 
Some, if not most of 
them, seem, however, 
hardly worthy to be considered geographical races, for their differences 
do not always depend on locality. Dr. Sharpe, with much labour and 
Atuco FLAMMEUS. (After Wolf.) 
1 A very large number have first and last been liberated in this country by 
Lord Lilford and Mr. Meade-Waldo ; but though they have been known to breed 
in their feral state, they can hardly be said to have established themselves. 
2 Through the dialectic forms Fresaie and Presaie, the origin of the word is 
easily traced to the Latin prasaga—a bird of bad omen ; but it has also been 
confounded with Orfraie, a name of the OsPREY. 
