THE TENGMALM'S OWL. 



99 



The Winking Owl is also a day flier, strong and powerful on the wing, tliough with 

 flight nearly as noiseless as that of the common barn Owl of England. It is a large and 

 powerful bird, delighting to capture the young koala, or native bear, together with other 

 prey of equal strength and magnitude. Berries have been found in the stomach of one of 

 these Owls ; but Mr. Gould thinks that they have probably come from the crop of some 

 unfortunate bird which had fallen a prey to the Winking Owl. The cry of this species is 

 remarkably resonant, and is said to resemble the lowing of an ox. If wounded it becomes 

 a very dangerous opponent, flinging itself on its back, strildng fierce and rapid blows 

 with its well-armed, feet, and seeking to seize its foe in the terrible clutch of its curved 

 talons. 



The general colour of this species is a dark clove-brown, diversified by many bars and 

 stripes. 



This genus also finds a British representative, in the person of the Little Owl 

 {Athene passerind), many specimens of which bird have been captured in England, and 

 even the nest and young occasionally discovered. 



The name of Little Owl is very appropriate, for it is only eight inches in length 

 including the plumage, and when stripped of its feathers appears hardly so large as a 

 common starling. It is properly a native of Germany, Holland, France, and Austria, and 

 has sometimes been called the Austrian Piufous Owlet, or the Sparrow Owl. Although so 

 small a creature, its food is the same as that of any of its larger relatives, consisting of 

 small birds, bats, mice, and various insects. The general colour of this curious little Owl 

 is clove-brown, banded and marked with yellowish-brown, grey, and white. It may easily 

 be distinguished from the British Owls by the legs, which are very long in proportion to 

 the dimensions of the bird, and instead 

 of being feathered down to the toes, are 

 covered with very short hair -like plumage, 

 becoming very scanty over the toes. It 

 is easily domesticated, and in a tamed 

 state is so voracious that, according to 

 Bechstein, it can swallow five mice at a 

 single meal. 



Another curious little Owl is some- 

 times found in England, and has therefore 

 gained a place among the British birds. 

 This is the Tengmalm's Owl or Death 

 BiED, the latter name having been given 

 to it on account of a common superstition 

 that reigns among several of the North- 

 American Indian tribes. When an Indian 

 hears one of these birds uttering its melan- 

 choly cry, he whistles towards the spot 

 from whence the sound proceeded, and if 

 the bird does not answer him, he looks 

 for a speedy death. 



This species is at first sight not unlike 

 the Little Owl, but may be at once dis- 

 tinguished from that bird by the structure 

 (>f its legs and toes, and the thick feathery 

 coating with which they are clad. It is a 



very common bird over the whole of the , 



inhabited portions of North America, but is frequently found in Norway, Sweden, Kussia, 

 and even in Northern France and Italy. It is a nocturnal bird, seldom wandenng from 

 its home during the hours of daylight, as it is almost blinded by the unaccustomed glare, 

 and may be eas^ily captured by hand while thus bewildered. The nest of the Tengmalm's 



h2 



TENGMALM'S OWL.— A^j/ctote funerea. 



