OWLS. 



337 



long cord, and letting this drag behind as the hunter walks. Its fondness for fish has 

 been frequently noticed, and this partly explains why, during its winter visits to the 

 United States, it is more abundant on the seaboard than in the interior. 



Many other owls are fond of fish and are skilful in catching them, but only two 

 genera seem to have the feet specially modified for this purpose, viz., the African 

 genus Scotopelia, and the Asiatic JKetupa. In both these forms the under surface of 

 the toes is thickly beset with papillae or spicules, as in the osprey, and the large, 

 strongly curved talons are of nearly equal length on all the toes. In Scotopelia the 

 head is smooth, and the tarsus is entirely bare behind, and only feathered in front for 

 a little distance below the tibio-tarsal joint ; while in Ketupa rather less than the 

 . lower third of the tarsus is bare, and the head has prominent plumicorns two or three 

 inches in length. Three species of each genus have been described, but the characters 

 on which they are founded would seem, from the descriptions, to be very slight. AL 

 are very large owls, and 

 are supposed to feed large- 

 ly, if not entirely, on fish 

 and crabs, but, as they are 

 inhabitants of the deep 

 forests and appear to be 

 nocturnal in habits, they 

 have seldom been seen 

 fishing. Mr. Swinhoe, 

 while at Ningpo, China, 

 dissected a specimen of 

 Ketupa flavipes which had 

 the stomach " crammed 

 with bones and other re- 

 mains of fishes, the largest 

 about four inches long." Scotopelia peli is found in western and southeastern Africa, 

 and Ketupa ceylonensis is from India and China, while K. javanensis, the smallest 

 form, inhabits the East Indies and Malay Peninsula. 



The horned-owls of the genus Bubo, inhabiting nearly all parts of the world except 

 Australia, are remarkable for their large size and great strength, as well as for the 

 great development of the plumicorns or ear-tufts. The number of species is variously 

 estimated at from half a dozen to two or three dozen. 



Good representatives of these magnificent owls are the great horned-owl, Bubo 

 mrginianus, of America, and the eagle-owl, B. ignavus (or maximus), of the northern 

 parts of the Old World. The latter is probably as large as any in the genus, and one 

 of the very largest of all owls, slightly exceeded in linear dimensions, perhaps, by one 

 or two others, but in strength and prowess surpassed by none. An adult female 

 measures about twenty-six inches from bill to tip of tail ; the wing is from eighteen 

 to nineteen inches in length, and the plumicorns from three to three and a half. 

 The weight of such a bird in fair condition is nearly eight pounds. As in all the 

 members of the genus, the tarsi are well feathered, the facial disk is imperfect, 

 the part below the eye much exceeding in area that above it, and the plumage is 

 of a mottled character, black, white, and various shades of brown being the prevail- 

 ing colors. 



The eagle-owl is now extremely rare in Great Britain, but in mountainous and 



VOL. IV. 22 



FIG. 154. Leg of Scotopelia ussheri, showing spicules. 



