THE LAUGHING OWL 



167 



Mr. W. W. Smith has recorded the very interesting manner in 

 which the male bird caters for its mate. He kept a pair in a 

 large packing case, with a dark recess in one corner, and when the 

 female was hatching her eggs, the male regnlarly carried every 

 morsel of food into the dark recess, and fed the female, which 



Laughing Owls. 



(lioa-h'ij's (Jriiith. Mixcvl.) 



was sitting on the eggs. Sometimes the male relieved the female 

 in the work of hatching. Thronghont the breeding season 

 the birds are noiseless, rarely nttering a sound, except whenevcT* 

 the male is carrying food to the nest, when he utters a hoarse 

 call, the female rising from the eggs and responding with a 



