1908 THE OWLS 



hunting the barn owl quarters its ground with the regularity of a spaniel, and its 

 food consists chiefly of voles. Its usual cry is a kind of scream, but the young 

 utter a snorting sound. In Europe this owl is a late breeder, usually commencing 

 to lay from the middle to the end of April, but sometimes not till May. The num- 

 ber of eggs in a nest generally ranges from three to six, although seven have been 

 taken. In California the nesting may be as early as January, and there, as in other 

 parts of America, the nest may be made in some hole in a bank, which is enlarged 

 to suit the requirements of its tenants. Writing of the habits of the American barn 

 owl (which he regards as a distinct species), Captain Bendire observes that strictly 

 speaking, this owl "makes no nest. If occupying a natural cavity of a tree, the 

 eggs are placed on the rubbish that may have accumulated at the bottom; if in a 

 bank, they are laid on the bare ground and among the pellets of small bones and 

 fur ejected by the parents. Frequently quite a lot of such material is found in their 

 burrows, the eggs lying on and among the refuse. Incubation usually commences 

 with the first egg laid, and lasts about three weeks. The eggs are almost invariably 

 found in different stages of development, and young may be found in the same nest 

 with fresh eggs. Both sexes assist in incubation, and the pair may be sometimes 

 found sitting side by side, each with a portion of the eggs under them." When the 

 eggs are hatched at distant intervals, it is probable that the warmth of the young 

 birds aids in their incubation during the absence of the parents. It is on record 

 that the eggs of a barn owl have been removed and replaced by those of a hen, 

 which have been successfully hatched. 



The grass owl (S. Candida] is an allied species, ranging from India to Japan 

 and Formosa, and found almost exclusively in long grass, while in South Africa the 

 common species is replaced by the Cape barn owl (S. capensis). Both these species 

 differ from S. flammea in having the upper surface of a uniform brown color, with 

 spots of white, and lacking the mottlings of gray and black characterizing the 

 former. 



Family BUBONID^E 



With the comparatively small species, represented on the left side 

 ' n ?. mc of the figure on the opposite page, known as Tengmalm's owl (Nydala 



tengmalmi), we come to the first representative of the second family 

 of the order, distinguished from the last by the breastbone having two or more dis- 

 tinct notches in its lower border, and also by its keel being firmly attached to the 

 furcula; in addition to which the third toe is not serrated, and is always longer than 

 the second. The cannon bone, or metatarsus, has a bridge over the hollow at the 

 upper end. Tengmalm's owl belongs to a group of three genera, characterized by 

 having the tube of the ear large and furnished with a well-developed lid, and 

 also by the face disc being distinct and extending as much above as below the 

 eye. 



Tengmalm's owl, together with the Acadian owl (JV. acadica) of North America, 

 are the representatives of a genus distinguished by the absence of tufts on the head, 

 by the extreme shortness of the cere, and the curious circumstance that the bony 



