158 OIVLS. 



year, and cleaned out and repaired when necessary. The burrows, according to 



Captain Bendire, vary from five to ten feet in depth, and are usually about five 



inches in diameter; the nesting-chamber being, however, from twelve to fifteen 



inches across. Frequently the burrow is much curved, so that the nest may lie 



within a couple of feet ofi" the surface ; at times the nest is lined with grass or 



feathers, but more generally with cow-dung. Seven to nine is the usual number 



of eggs, but there may be as few as six or as many as eleven. Both sexes assist 



in incubation ; and, unless the eggs be taken, but a single clutch is laid in a 



season. In defence of their eggs and young, these little owls exhibit determined 



ferocity ; retreating to the ends of their burrows, and striking out at the intruder 



with beak and claws. 



Although the name little owl, or owlet, is of course equivalent 

 Little Owls. ^ . . . . ^ 



to pigmy owl, yet it is convement to restrict the latter term to the 



members of the genus Glaucidium., and the former to those of the present genus. 

 As already mentioned, the little owls are frequently confounded with the pigmy 

 owls ; but the two differ essentially in that the former have a long and the latter a 

 short first primary quill. The little owls differ from the burrowing owl in that 

 both the fourth and fifth primaries have their outer webs deeply scalloped, and 

 also in having the upper part of the metatarsus hidden by feathers, and the base 

 of the toes enveloped in the plumage of the metatarsus, their legs thus appearing 

 very short. In having the nostrils pierced near the front of the cere, they are 

 distinguished from an allied Indian owl known as Heteroglaux, in which the 

 nostrils occupy the middle of the cere. The wings are large, with the third and 

 fourth quills of nearly equal kngth ; and the head is large and round. The five 

 species of this genus range from Europe and North Africa across Central Asia 

 to China, and also from the Mediterranean countries across Persia to India and 

 Burma. The common little owl (Carine noctvM) is about the same size as 

 Tengmalm's owl — from which it may be at once distinguished by its compact 

 plumage, — and is an occasional straggler to the British Isles. The general colour 

 of the upper-parts is brown mottled with oval white spots ; the facial disc being 

 greyish white, passing into brown externally, while the greater portion of the 

 under surface is whitish streaked with brown ; each feather on this aspect having 

 a dark median line and light edges. This form is found all over continental Europe 

 except the extreme north, but its extreme eastern limits are not yet fully known. 

 A desert-hunting variety or species (C. glaux) differs by its paler coloration, the 

 ground-colour of the upper-parts being rufous fawn, while the under surface is pure 

 white streaked with rufous. Moreover, while in one form the toes are but scantily 

 covered with hair-like feathers, in another they are thickly plumed. The pale 

 desert form of the little owl inhabits the countries to the south of the Mediter- 

 ranean, except near Tangiers (where the ordinary form occurs) ; and it also ranges 

 into North-Eastern Africa, and extends eastwards into Persia, India, and Afghanistan. 

 The ordinary form is the commonest owl in Italy, and is also common in Sicily, 

 although there it is migratory. It breeds in Italy, Gibraltar, Spain, Greece, and 

 Holland. Professor Newton observes that " the little owl is not strictly nocturnal 

 in its habits, for one observer has seen it, at midday, when the sun was shining 

 brightly, carry off a sparrow from a flock ; but, as a rule, towards the evening it 



