OWL 



673 



polar regions to the remotest oceanic islands. No 

 birds are more cosmopolitan in their distribu- 

 tion. In habit they are generally nocturnal ; their 

 flight is noiseless and buoyant; their eyesight is 

 very acute, as is also their sense of hearing. They 

 are either solitary or live in pairs, and although so 

 often regarded with superstitious aversion and ani- 

 mosity, they are nearly always harmless and very 

 useful birds. Their food consists of small mam- 

 mals, birds, insects especially nocturnal lepidop- 

 tera ; and some species prey on fish, either habitu- 

 ally or occasionally. They pounce upon their prey 

 noiselessly, and, striking their talons into it, kill it 

 anil carry it off. Small animals may be carried in 

 their bill, and are swallowed whole ; larger ani- 

 mals, torn in pieces, are eaten in morsels. The 

 dilgorged pellets of indigestible materials bones, 

 fur, and feathers produce a characteristic fetid 

 odour near the owl's abode. The examination by 

 Dr Altam of remains found (communicated^} the 

 German Ornithologists' Society) gives j^^B" idea 

 of the food and utility of the 

 species of British owls. 



Tawny Owl 210 



Long-eared Owl.. 25 

 Barn-owl 708 



The nesting habits of owls vary considerably. The 

 nest is rudely made of twigs and grass, in holes of 

 trees, crevices of rocks, dark corners of buildings, 

 or on the ground ; sometimes there is no nest at 

 all, or only the forsaken one of some other bird. 

 The eggs are usually white, either pure or yellow 

 or blue tinted, and almost spherical, commonly four 

 to six in number, but some species lay eight or ten, 

 others not more than two. The young remain long 

 in the nest, and are helped by their parents for 

 gome days after going abroad. Some owls are 

 diurnal in habit, and these have more compact 

 plumage, smaller ears, and incomplete discs ; lint 

 the habits of owls in general are too little known 

 to allow of many general statements being made 

 regarding the adaptation of structures to particular 

 halnts. Though the small and unspecialised ear is 

 said to characterise diurnal species, it is found in 

 the eagle-owl, whose habits are nocturnal. Un- 

 feathered legs are sometimes associated with fishing 

 habits ; but some feather-legfjed species catch fish, 

 while other species with unfeatliered legs do not. 

 And again, feathered horns, which have sometimes 

 been considered characters sufficiently important to 

 serve as a basis for classification, have no known 

 function, occur in widely-different species, vary 

 much in size and form, and are not peculiar to 

 either males or females. During the day nocturnal 

 owls repose in some secluded spot, generally in a 

 tree, but often on rocks and bushy cliffs, while 

 some prefer the ground. If found abroad they are 

 iiersecuted by other and smaller birds, being 

 bewildered and rendered helpless by the unaccus- 

 tomed glare of the daylight. When surprised, 

 owls hiss like a cat and make a clicking noise 

 with their bills ; some have a harsh shrieking cry, 

 others a not unmusical hoot. 



The classification of the owls is at present in a 

 very unsatisfactory state, owing to the difficulty of 

 estimating properly the classification value of the 

 various anatomical characters. According to the 

 most generally received method (Sharpe's, in the 

 Cctlaloyiie of Birch in the British Museum, vol. ii. ), 

 the sub-order Striges is subdivided into two 

 families ( 1 ) Strigid.-p, containing only the two 

 genera Strix and Phodilus, which embrace six 

 species: (2) Bubonidie, containing all the other 

 owls 17 genera and about 190 species. (Newton 

 355 



subdivides the owls, which he reckons as a family 

 of Aecipitres, into two sub-families ( 1 ) Aluconina?, 

 corresponding to the Strigidie of Sharpe ; and (2) 

 Striginte, corresponding to the BubonidiK. ) In the 

 Strigidse the sternum has no mamibrium, and its 

 margin is entire behind ; the clavicles meet to 

 form a furcula or merrythought, which is firmly 

 united with the keel of the sternum ; the tarsus is 

 without a bony arch over the extensor tendon of 

 the toes ; and the claw of the mid-toe has its inner 

 margin serrate. In the BiibonidtP, on the other 

 hand, the sternum has a distinct manubrium, and 

 has its margin notched behind ; the clavicles are 

 small and do not form a furcula, nor are they 

 united with the sternum ; the tarsus has a bony 

 arch or ring over the groove which contains the 

 common extensor of the toes ; and the inner margin 

 of the middle claw is not serrate. 



The only British representative of the family 

 Strigid.-e is the Barn-owl, WhiteOwl, Screech-owl, or 

 Church-owl (Strix flammea of Linnaeus). This, 

 although the commonest British owl, is really a 

 tropical bird, not ranging more than 40 north or 

 south of the equator, except in western Europe, 

 where it breeds as 

 far north as Den- 

 mark and the 

 south of Sweden. 

 In Scotland it is 

 found in the Inner 

 Hebrides, Caith- 

 ness, and the Shet- 

 land Isles. The 

 adult male is about 

 13 inches long; the 

 bill is white ; the 

 claws purplish 

 gray ; the face 

 discs, which are 

 oval in form and 

 complete, are 

 white. The gen- 

 eral colour, which 

 is light reddish 

 yellow, mottled 

 with gray on the 

 upper parts, and Fig. 1. Barn-owl (Strix fiammea). 

 white with small 



dusky spots on the under parts, distinguishes 

 it from all other owls. The female is larger, 

 but differs little in colour, except that the upper 

 parts are darker. This owl is pre-eminently noc- 

 turnal in habit. It frequents villages, home* 

 steads, and ruins, where it carries on its depreda- 

 tions among rats, mice, and other animals as 

 many as twenty rats have been found in the nest 

 of one, all freshly killed. It has also been known 

 to catch fish. Its cry is a discordant scream, and 

 it also produces a snoring and hissing noise. If a 

 nest is made it is merely a loosely-arranged collec- 

 tion of twigs and straws. The eggs number two to 

 five, and are large and smooth and white. Several 

 broods of young may be produced annually. Plio- 

 dilus, the other genus of the Strigida-, consists of 

 only one species (P. badius), which ranges from 

 the eastern Himalaya to Burma and Pegu, and is 

 also found in Ceylon, Java, and Borneo. This 

 genus possesses characters common to both families, 

 and is really an intermediate form belonging pro- 

 perly to neither. A species from Madagascar, 

 described by Alphonse Milne-Edwards under the 

 name of Heliodilus soumagnii, has been placed in 

 this sub-family. 



Among the Bubonidoe the Tawny Owl, Wood-owl, 

 Ivy-owl, Brown Owl (Strix siridnla or ahtco, or 

 Syrnium aluco) is a very common British species. 

 It is found chiefly in wooded parts of England, and 

 in the midland and southern districts of Scotland, 



