88 THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 



Eagle -Owls are seriously destructive to game and 

 poultry. A few are eaten locally. 



CAPTIVITY. They bear captivity excellently, and 

 often breed in that condition ; the great Eagle - 

 Owl (Bubo maximus) has been thus bred for several 

 generations. 



DISTRIBUTION AND IMPORTANT SPECIES. There are 

 about three hundred species of Owls, and they are 

 found all over the world. Some individual species, 

 as the Barn-Owl (Strix flammea) and the Short-eared 

 Owl (Asio brachyotus) are also almost world-wide 

 in distribution ; the latter is also migratory a 

 rare habit in the family. Besides the Barn-Owl, 

 the Brown Owl (Syrnium aluco) is common in Britain 

 and Europe generally. The Little Owl (Athene 

 noctua), a small species about as big as a black- 

 bird, spotted brown-and-white, is a very familiar 

 Continental form, now locally common in England 

 by introduction ; in India the very similar A. brama, 

 barred instead of streaked below, replaces it. The 

 Barn-Owl is often called Screech-Owl, but the 

 Screech-Owl of North America is a small " horned " 

 species (Scops asio). An Eagle -Owl (Bubo vir- 

 ginianus) is also a well-known American species ; 

 and the commonest Owl at the Cape (Bubo 

 maculosus) also belongs to the Eagle-Owl group. 

 The Burrowing Owl (Speotyto cunicularia) inhabits 

 the plain districts of America ; it is much like 

 the Little Owl of the Old World, but with longer 

 legs. 



PARROTS (Psittadd&). 



DIAGNOSIS. Pair-toed birds with a very short, strongly- 

 hooked beak, with movable upper jaw. 



SIZE. From less than a tit to that of an ordinary fowl, 

 approximately. 



