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8 



unpleasant to walk bare-footed over the granite rock. As I was remounting the ledge to get to 

 the narrow path I had come by (for I had gone down the slope about fifteen feet to get to the 

 nest), I saw another Owl sitting on a nest exactly similar, and as the bird flew away knocked her 

 down with a stick, and took the eggs also, four in number. It was about half-past three in the 

 afternoon. I also disturbed several others, but could not get at their nests. . . . The Owls appear 

 to roost all over the face of the precipice, at least a mile in length, on the western side of the 

 capital, and go out at nightfall, cruising about the rock and over the town for a quarter of an 

 hour. After that time they always flew straight away to the low country and rice-grounds to 

 the west.' " 



In Asia this Owl has also a tolerably wide range. Mr. Blanford did not meet with it in 

 Persia ; but Dr. Severtzoff records it from North-western Turkestan. Captain Jones obtained 

 one in Mesopotamia, on the Euphrates expedition ; and it is stated by Dr. Jerdon to occur 

 throughout India, Ceylon, and Burmah. There is a good series of specimens in the British 

 Museum from India. Mr. Holdsworth obtained it at Aripo, in Ceylon, where this Owl is, he 

 says, veiy local, and confined to the north of the island. Lord Tweeddale received it from 

 Tonghoo, in Burmah, where it is common and generally distributed ; and Captain Feilden and 

 Mr. Oates procured it in Upper Pegu. It does not appear to occur in China or Japan, but is 

 found southward to Australia. It has been obtained in Java, Lombock, Flores, and Celebes ; 

 and in Australia Mr. Gould (B. of Australia, i. p. 67) observed it in almost every part of New 

 South Wales that he visited. It is a common bird in South Australia, and he has seen speci- 

 mens from Port Essington. It has not been found in .the Swan-Ptiver colony, nor can it be 

 included in the fauna of Tasmania. Canon Tristram, in his notes on a collection of birds from 

 New Hebrides, says (Ibis, 1876, p. 260): — "The collection contains two specimens, with the 

 remark, ' lives in woods and not much seen. Native name " Nalithmot." ' The specimens in no 

 way vary from others I possess from Australia, Fiji, and the Samoa Islands. I may mention in 

 passing that, though the Pacific specimens I have seen are for the most part of a much purer 

 white on the lower surface than the British Strix Jlammea, yet one from Samoa is as much 

 spotted as many English specimens. The specimens are from Aneiteum." It inhabits also New 

 Caledonia, the Friendly and Feejee Islands, the Samoa group, and the Sandwich Islands. 



In the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions the Barn-Owl is found from Canada down to Peru. 

 Dr. Brewer says that it is of rare occurrence north of Pennsylvania ; but there is a specimen in 

 the British Museum shot near Toronto by Mr. James Whitely. According to Dr. Coues (B. of 

 N.W. Am. p. 299) this Owl is " an abundant bird on both sides of the continent, south of a 

 certain latitude. Unlike many of its relatives, warmly clothed and of a hardy nature, with- 

 standing great cold, it appears of rather delicate and sensitive organization. In the Missouri 

 region it has only occurred to my knowledge in Kansas, where it breeds, though it is rarely- 

 found, according to Professor Snow. I ascertained its occurrence in Arizona ; once, wading 

 through a reedy lagoon at midday, I disturbed a Barn-Owl, which rose silently and flapped 

 along till I brought it down. It is a common bird in California — apparently the most abundant 

 species of its family in the southern part of the State ; and, according to Dr. Cooper, it extends 

 its range to the Columbia, in lat. 46°. Dr. Newberry observed an interesting modification of its 

 habits by circumstances, which cause it to inhabit holes in the perpendicular cliffs bordering the 



