190 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 



Eggs. — Three or four in number; groundcolour, where 

 visible, white, mostly smeared with blotches of a reddish 

 rusty-chocolate. Length, 1'6 inches; breadth, 1-25 inches 

 (A. J. North). 



BOOBOOK OWL, 



Xinox boobook, Lath. 



Ninoks boo-book. 



Ni, not (neither, i.e., twilight); nox, night; booboo/c, in imitation 



of its call. 



Athene boobook, Gould, " Bii-ds of Australia," foL, vol. i., 



pi. 32. 



Geographical Distribution. — Areas 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9. 



Key to the Species.— General colour rufous; interscapulum not 

 spotted ; wing 10 "25 inches long ; tarsus not twice the length 

 of middle toe ; facial disc unequal, the part above much larger 

 than that below ; outer toe reversible. 



Of all the owls this is to us tlie best known, and possibly 

 the most useful of them. In nature it plays a wonderful 

 part ; silent and unobtrusive, yet performing its avocation 

 surely and perse veringly. When we consider that there 

 are some 765 species of birds in Australia, and only, say, 

 two dozen able to do the night work of checking the 

 ravages of insects or other animals, we should see that a 

 careful preservation of all be strictly enforced. The late 

 Mr. Gould remarked — " In no other country is there a 

 greater proportion of insectivorous birds than in ours, and 

 certainly none in which nocturnal species, such as the 

 Podargi (Frogmouths), are more numerous." It is clear 

 to me the continent needs them, and it is for you to help 

 to keep, as well as possible, this balance. Owls about your 



