53 



The Roller-like Birds 



Hawk Owls. Passing over a number of small and relatively unimportant 

 genera which were formerly included in that just considered, among them Lo- 

 phostrix, which embraces two rather large South American species, we come to 

 another very large, exclusively Old World genus (Ninox), which includes the so- 

 called Hawk Owls, a name which is also and more properly applied to members 

 of the genus Surnia. They are mostly small or medium sized Owls of very Hawk- 

 like appearance, owing to the fact that they are without ear-tufts and to the ruff 

 and facial disk being quite obsolete, while the plumage, especially of wings and 

 tail, is rather firmer than is usual among Owls. They have relatively small 

 heads and rather weak bills, with a swollen cere and the nostrils opening close 

 to the front margin. The tail is rather long and rounded, while the wings are 

 long and pointed, with the third and fourth quills longest and the first about 

 equal to the seventh. The short tarsus is feathered and the toes are thinly 

 furnished with bristles. The color of the plumage in a majority of the species 

 is an almost uniform chocolate-brown above. 



One of the most widely distributed species is the Hairy or Brown Hawk Owl 

 (Ninox scutulata) of the Oriental region, a bird about twelve and a half inches 

 in length, with the plumage a rich chocolate-brown above, the tail boldly barred 

 with blackish, and the under parts chocolate-brown striped with white. It is 

 a bird of the forests, chiefly nocturnal in its habits, keeping mostly to the thick 

 trees during the daytime, and occasionally observed at evening sitting on a stump 

 or limb. It feeds chiefly on insects, but also on mice, lizards, etc., and has a loud, 

 not unmelodious, hoot which is described as whoo-wuk, while when wounded it 

 is said to utter a cry like that of a hare. Little is known of its breeding habits 

 beyond the fact that it appears to nest in holes in trees. 



Australian Hawk Owls. Australia is especially rich in species of this 

 genus, there being some nine or ten, among them the Powerful Owl (N. strenua), 

 which is the largest of the group, sometimes reaching a length of twenty-four 

 inches. It is mostly ashy brown above, numerously banded with,, white or pale 

 brown, the wings being barred with rufous and white, and the tail with six to 

 nine white bars, while the lower parts are mostly white barred with brown on 

 the flanks and sides. 



Boobook Owl. Another well-known Australian species is the Boobook 

 Owl (N. boobook), a bird hardly half the size of its great relative. It is deep 

 chocolate-brown above, darker on the head, with the scapulars and wing-coverts 

 spotted with white, the tail dark brown crossed by about eight light bands, 

 while the under parts are bright ochraceous, each feather being centrally streaked 

 with brown. 



"Morepork" Owl. The familiar little Owl of New Zealand, known to the 

 colonists under the name of Morepork (N. nova-zealandia), is the only repre- 

 sentative of the genus in this area. It is brown above, spotted with fulvous, 

 and rufous streaked with brown and spotted with white below; the length is 

 about twelve inches. The Morepork, which derives its popular name from its 

 peculiar cry, is a strictly nocturnal species, spending the day in the dark recesses 

 of the forest or hiding in the crevices of rocks and outbuildings, and when 



