i 4 4 OWLS. 



been taken. In California the nesting may be as early as January, and there, as 

 in other parts of America, the nest may be made in some hole in a bank, which is 

 enlarged to suit the requirements of its tenants. Writing of the habits of the 

 American barn-owl (which he regards as a distinct species), Captain Bendire 

 observes that, strictly speaking, this owl " makes no nest. If occupying a natural 

 cavity of a tree, the eggs are placed on the rubbish that may have accumulated 

 at the bottom ; if in a bank, they are laid on the bare ground and among the 

 pellets of small bones and fur ejected by the parents. Frequently quite a lot of 

 such material is found in their burrows, the eggs lying on and among the refuse. 

 Incubation usually commences with the first egg laid, and lasts about three weeks. 

 The eggs are almost invariably found in different stages of development, and young 

 may be found in the same nest with fresh eggs. Both sexes assist in incubation, 

 and the pair may be sometimes found sitting side by side, each with a portion of 

 the eggs under them." When the eggs are hatched at distant intervals, it is 

 probable that the warmth of the young birds aids in their incubation during the 

 absence of the parents. It is on record that the eggs of a barn-owl have been 

 removed and replaced by those of a hen, which have been successfully hatched. 



The grass-owl (S. Candida) is an allied species, ranging from India to Japan 

 and Formosa, and found almost exclusively in long grass ; while in South Africa 

 the common species is replaced by the Cape barn-owl (S. capensis). Both these 

 species differ from S. flammea in having the upper surface of a uniform brown 

 colour, with spots of white, and lacking the inottlings of grey and black characteris- 

 ing the former. 



Family 



With the comparatively small species, represented on the left side 

 of the figure on the opposite page, known as Tengmalm's owl (Nyctala 

 tengmalmi), we come to the first representative of the second family of the order, 

 distinguished from the last by the breast-bone having two or more distinct 

 notches in its lower border, and also by its keel being firmly attached to the 

 furcula ; in addition to which the third toe is not serrated, and is always longer 

 than the second. The cannon-bone, or metatarsus, has a bridge over the hollow at 

 the upper end. Tengmalm's owl belongs to a group of three genera, characterised 

 by having the tube of the ear large and furnished with a well-developed lid ; and 

 also by the face-disc being distinct and extending as much above as below the eye. 

 Tengmalm's owl, together with the Acadian owl (N. acadica) of North America, 

 are the representatives of a genus distinguished by the absence of tufts on the 

 head, by the extreme shortness of the cere, and the curious circumstance that the 

 bony tube of the ear is quite unsymmetrical on the two sides of the skull. The 

 toes are thickly feathered, the head is relatively large, the under mandible notched, 

 the wings long and rounded, and the tail short. This owl measures only from 8J 

 to 10 inches in length, and may be easily recognised by its thick and fluffy plumage, 

 which stands out widely on each side of the head, and by its prettily-mottled 

 coloration. The general colour of the upper-parts is pale brown, mottled with white 

 bars, and the forehead spotted with white. The tail-feathers are marked with five 

 interrupted whitish bars, and the under-parts are greyish white, mottled with clove- 



