; SPARROW OWLS. 583 



HORNLESS OWLS. 



The family of Hornless Owls is distinguished from the Horned 

 group by the absence of projecting feathers on their heads. They 

 comprehend several species, the principal of which are Sparrow 

 Owls (Strix passerina, Aud.), Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicu- 

 laria), Barn or Screech Owls (Strix jlammea), Hawk Owls (Surnia 

 funerea), Ural Owls (Surnia uralensis), and Snow Owls (Surnia 

 nictea). 



SPARROW OWLS are of small size ; their facial disk is incomplete ; 

 the tarsi are elongated ; the claws bare or slightly hairy ; their 

 tails short and square. There are numerous species, of which we 

 shall only notice the principal. 



The Common Sparrow Owl, which is very numerous in France, 

 and, in fact, through the whole of Europe, is about the size of a 

 Thrush. It inhabits old ruins and quarries, but never lives in 

 the hollows of trees ; therefore it rarely makes its abode in the 

 woods. Its nature is much less nocturnal than that of its con- 

 geners, and it is often seen pursuing small birds in broad day- 

 light, though probably with but little success. Its general food 

 consists of mice, which it tears in pieces before eating, as it is 

 unable to swallow them whole. It also very skilfully plucks 

 the feathers from birds which become its victims. In winter, 

 when the snow is on the ground, it devours the filth deposited 

 in the farm-yards. Like the Scops, it delights in following 

 persons who pass its retreat, especially at the break of dawn. 

 When flying it utters a cry, poopoo, poopoo ! which it substitutes, 

 when perched, for a sound very like the voice of a young French- 

 man saying aime, kerne, esme ! Buffon relates a curious anecdote on 

 this subject : " I was sleeping in an old tower of the Chateau of 

 Montbard, when a little before daybreak, at three o'clock in the 

 morning, a Sparrow Owl came and perched on the window-seat of 

 my chamber, and woke me by its cry of heme, edme. As I listened 

 to this voice, which seemed to me all the more singular as it was 

 so near, I heard one of my servants, who was sleeping in a room 

 above, open his window, and, deceived by the well-articulated 

 sound of edme, answer the bird: 'Who is down there? My 



