402 THE OWLS 



So far we have been discussing what we may call the typical barn- 

 owl. But birds of dark or " red " phases of plumage are sometimes 

 met with. These are northern (Danish) individuals, characterised by 

 the large amount of chestnut on the facial disc, red under parts 

 marked by dark "arrow-head" patterns, and darker, greyer upper 

 parts. These birds, however, appear to differ in nowise from the 

 lighter plumaged birds of the British Islands. Of the numerous races 

 and sub-species of this bird met with in various parts of the world, it 

 is not necessary to speak here. But a few words must be said on the 

 subject of " Luminous Owls." 



It- would seem that under certain circumstances, yet to be dis- 

 covered, the barn-owl becomes highly phosphorescent, so much so as 

 to produce a glare during flight. This fact was first brought to public 

 notice by Sir Digby Pigott during 1907, when he wrote to the Times 

 recording the fact that on the night of February 3, 1907, a Norfolk 

 landowner, Mr. R W. Purdy of Foulsham, Norfolk, saw, on returning 

 from an evening walk, what he believed to be a moving light, appar- 

 ently a carriage lamp, about a quarter of a mile off. It suddenly 

 mounted some 50 or 60 feet into the air, moving up and down, vertically, 

 with great rapidity ; then it descended and pursued a horizontal 

 course. But during the twenty minutes it was under observation it 

 pursued a very erratic course, and naturally left the observer some- 

 thing more than mystified. In December of the same year similar 

 phenomena were witnessed ; and, to make a long story short, this 

 strange moving light was found to proceed from a pair of owls. Mr. 

 Purdy drew the attention of a number of people resident in the neigh- 

 bourhood to this strange phenomenon, so that there can be no doubt 

 as to the reality of the occurrence. What is wanted is an explanation. 

 It may be due, as has been suggested, to luminous bacteria adherent 

 to the feathers from contact with decaying wood ; or to the products of 

 disease, since phthisical patients have been known to become phos- 

 phorescent ; or it may be due to a fungus not infrequently found in 

 feathers, which, under certain circumstances, becomes luminous. But, 



