304 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



scarcely repress a cold shudder when a company of these forest spirits favour him with one of their 

 demoniacal nocturnal concerts. Doubtless these sounds represent the battle-cries of the males when 

 fighting for the females, and take the place of the song of the Nightingale when telling its tale of love. 



"After the Owls have paired these cries are heard less frequently, both birds being now fully 

 occupied with their nursery 

 operations. The large nest is 

 composed outwardly of branches 

 and sticks, and is lined with 

 dry leaves and small twigs. It 

 is built, and generally placed in 

 either the cleft of a rock or in 

 a hole in some ruined tower ; 

 the nest is never built in a tree 

 but from necessity. The two or 

 three eggs are also often found 

 lying on the bare surface of the 

 rock, Avithout any nest whatever. 

 They are round, cross-grained, 

 and white, and somewhat larger 

 than a hen's egg. The young 

 are hatched in about thi-ee 

 weeks. They are usually two in 

 number, rarely three; they look, 

 on their first appeai-ance, like 

 balls of cotton-wool, and keep 

 up a constant hissing or shrill 

 whistle. They remain a long 

 time in the nest, and are so 

 abundantly provided with food 

 by the parent birds, that one is 

 sure to find a large heap of 

 provisions at the nest. The 

 Owlets often betray their pre- 

 sence to their innumerable ene- 

 mies by their cries, and suffer 

 much persecution inconsequence. 

 When about eight weeks old 

 they are able to fly, though they 

 still remain for some time longer 

 under the care of the old birds. 

 These latter rarely wander far 

 from a particular neighbour- 

 hood, and usually build in the 

 very same place the following 

 year." 



Besides the Eagle Owls, the sub-family Subonince contains the Snowy Owl (Nyctea* scandiaca^}, 

 all the Hawk Owls (Surnia$ Ninox), and the Pigmy Owlets (Glauddium\\). Many of the birds 

 belonging to this latter genus are not much bigger than a Sparrow. They are found nearly all over the 

 world, with the exception of Australia and Oceania, and one species, the European Pigmy Owlet 



VVKTIOS, nightly, i.e., a bird of night a most inappropriate title for the Snowy Owl, which is a day-flier. 

 t Scandiaca, Scandinavian. J A proper name. A " barbarous " name, of no meaning. 



|| From y\avK6s, blue or grey. 



SHORT- EARED OWL. 



