EARED OWLS 1919 



their chief food; their cry is a kind of whistling note, which may be imitated by 

 blowing into a key. They build in hollow trees, without forming a nest. 



The common pygmy owl, which is unknown in Britain, is the smallest European 

 representative of the order, and ranges over Europe and Northern Asia from Nor- 

 way to Eastern Siberia. It belongs to a group of the genus in which the head is 

 usually spotted or streaked, although occasionally nearly uniform, the second great 

 group of the genus being distinguished by the regular barring of the top of the 

 head. In size this species attains a length of eight and one-half inches, and its gen- 

 eral color above is umber brown, becoming ashy on the head and back, and varie- 

 gated with yellowish white spots, tending to bars on the back. The head is thickly 

 dotted with these round spots; the sides of the face are white, barred with dark 

 brown, and the white breast is marked with longitudinal splashes of dark brown. 

 The toes are thickly feathered. This owl is generally distributed in Norway, 

 where it is commonly found during the summer in forests, either evergreen or decid- 

 uous, but in winter it approaches human habitations. A certain number of indi- 

 viduals migrate in winter. It may frequently be seen at midday, sitting silently on 

 some bare tree, and when made bold by hunger, it will fly at and seize sparrows 

 and tits while on the wing. It generally nests in hollow aspen trees, and lays four 

 eggs at a time. 



Among the second group of the genus, or those in which the head is regularly 

 barred across, we may refer to the jungle owlet (G. radiatum) of the plains of 

 India, and the large-barred owlet (G. cuculoides), ranging from the Himalayas to 

 Burma, and attaining a length of eleven inches. The former does not exceed 

 eight inches in length, and has nine bars of white, including the one at the tip, 

 whereas in the larger species there are seven of such bands. The large-barred 

 owlet has the whole plumage brown banded with five transverse white bars, giving 

 it a very unmistakable appearance; but in the jungle owlet there is a large white 

 patch at the base of the neck in front. The latter species is dispersed in the forest 

 regions all over India, and breeds in April and May, laying three or four eggs in 

 the hollows of trees. These owlets are strong flyers, and will kill small birds on the 

 wing in the daytime. Mr. Hume says that they can easily be tamed, and will then 

 eat cooked meat, frogs, insects, or almost anything that may be offered them. A 

 pair he had in captivity " were excessively noisy birds, both by night, and even at 

 intervals by day, in fact at times a perfect nuisance. Dogs were their abomination, 

 and in the way in which, menaced by a puppy, who evidently thought it famous 

 fun, they would lower their heads, set out their wings and ear coverts, and ' curse 

 and swear' (a mixture of hissing and chattering, utterly indescribable in words), 

 was really quite edifying ! ' ' The same writer observes that in the Eastern Hima- 

 layas the large-barred owlet may frequently be seen sitting on trees or stumps in 

 the full glare of the midday sun. Its presence may be easily recognized by its 

 chuckling, vibrating call. It generally nests in hollow oaks, at a height of twenty 

 or thirty feet from the ground, laying four eggs in a clutch. 



As the name hawk owl is commonly applied both to the members of the present 

 genus, and also to the true hawk owl (Sumia), it is necessary to distinguish the 

 former by the affix Oriental. These owls agree with those of the preceding genus 



