168 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



peevish twitter when receiving the food. When the yonng are 

 hatched, they are fed by the parent birds on large blackish 

 worms, procured from the edges of swamps. 



The laughing owl is found in the bleakest tracts of country, 

 and, unlike the morepork, described further on, it does not 

 display a special liking for the bush. In its habits it is strictly 

 nocturnal. Sometimes, in pursuit of its prey, it encounters the 

 most rigorous weather of the alpine regions. 



Genus Ni)iox. 



Like the last, but with a shorter tarsus. Southern Asia, to 

 Australia and New Zealand. 



The Morepork. — Kuru or Koukou. 

 Ninox novae-zealandiae. 



Above, brown, spotted with fulvous; below, rufous, streaked with 

 brown, on the abdomen. Feathers on the legs, rufous. Eye bright 

 yellow. Length of the wing, 8 in.; of the tarsus, 1.5 in. Egg— White; 

 length, 1.5 in. Both Islands. 



Of the two owls belonging to New Zealand, the best known is 

 the morepork. It may still be seen in the forests, and sometimes 

 in the open, though members of the species are not nearly as 

 numerous as they used to be. 



For an owd, it is a small bird. Its popular name has been 

 given on account of the peculiar cry it makes, resembling the 

 words "more pork, more pork." In the light of day it spends 

 most of its time in the gloomiest forest shades it can find. At 

 night it comes out to hunt for prey in the shape of rats, mice, 

 moths, insects, and small birds. When disturbed in the daytime 

 it is dazed, and flies otf to some shady spot, in an awkward and 

 irregular manner. While at night it is a dreaded enemy of other 

 denizens of the forest, in the daytime it is at tlieir mercy. 



The Rev. W. Colenso relates an annising incident noted by him 

 many years ago when the New Zealand woods teemed with bird 



