154 OWLS. 



tinguished by the toes being completely bare, although it is approached in this 

 respect by the Stygian owl {A. stygiiis) of Brazil. 



The pigmy owls, few of which exceed 8 inches in length, while 

 several are less than six, bring us to the first representatives of the 

 second' subfamily of the Bubonidce, which includes all the remaining members of 

 the order. The group is characterised by the ear-tube being not larger than the 

 eye, and unprovided with an operculum, and also by the facial disc being unequal, 

 ajid in some cases very imperfectly developed, the portion below the eye being 

 always much larger than that above the same. The latter difference may be seen by 

 comparing the figure of the Ural owl on p. 148 with that of the little owl on p. 159. 

 The pigmy owls, of which the common species {Glavxidium passerinum) is 

 represented on the right side of the illustration on p. 145, in addition to their 

 small size, may be distinguished by the absence of ear -tufts, the inflated and 

 swollen cere, in which are pierced the nostrils, by the first primary of the wing 

 being short, the whole wing short and rounded, the tail also rounded, and more than 

 half the length of the wing, and the metatarsus of moderate length, and densely 

 feathered. There is not unfrequently some confusion between the members of this 

 genus and the little owls of the genus Gairine ; but if it be remembered that while 

 in the former the first primary is short, in the latter it is long, the difficulty will 

 vanish. There are some twenty species of pigmy owls, ranging over the greater 

 part of the Old World, but not found eastwards of the Malay Islands ; and also 

 occurring in Southern North America and the whole of South America. For their 

 size these little owls are bold and rapacious, many of them flying at birds of larger 

 bulk than themselves. Usually nocturnal, and hunting in the morning and even- 

 ings, they may at times be seen abroad in daylight. Mice, voles, lemmings, small 

 birds, and large insects form their chief food ; and their cry is a kind of whistling 

 note, which may be imitated by blowing into a key. They build in hollow trees, 

 without forming a nest. 



The common pigmy owl, which is unknown in Britain, is the smallest European 

 representative of the order, and ranges over Europe and Northern Asia from Norway 

 to Eastern Siberia. It belongs to a group of the genus in which the head is 

 usually spotted or streaked, although occasionally nearly uniform ; the second great 

 group of the genus being distinguished by the regular barring of the top of the head. 

 In size this species attains a length of 8^ inches ; and its general colour above is 

 umber-brown, becoming ashy on the head and back, and variegated with yellowish 

 •white spots, tending to bars on the back. The head is thickly dotted with these 

 round spots ; the sides of the face are white, barred with dark brown ; and the white 

 breast is marked with longitudinal splashes of dark brown. The toes are thickly 

 feathered. This owl is generally distributed in Norway, where it is commonly 

 found during the summer in forests, either evergreen or deciduous ; but in winter 

 it approaches human habitations. A certain number of individuals migrate in 

 winter. It may frequently be seen at midday, sitting silently on some bare tree ; 

 and when made bold by hunger, it will fly at and seize sparrows and tits while on 

 the wing. It generally nests in hollow aspen trees, and lays four eggs at a time. 



Among the second group of the genus, or those in which the head is regularly 

 barred across, we may refer to the jungle owlet {G. radiatum), of the plains of 



