130 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



The said Barn-owl (Strix flammea) is also found 

 in Calcutta, but is not nearly so conspicuous as the 

 little spotted bird, and is comparatively seldom seen, 

 owing, no doubt, to his more nocturnal habits. Now 

 and then one may see the big broad-winged bird 

 flapping steadily and silently over the compound, 

 or plunging into a bush to raid the roosting sparrows, 

 for this Owl is one of the enemies of those pestilential 

 finches, although his more ordinary diet consists of 

 " rats and mice and such small deer." For the 

 capture of these he is eminently adapted ; his dark 

 eyes look out from a most perfectly-formed " facial 

 disk," that radiating arrangement of feathafs so 

 beautifully contrived to concentrate the light — 

 though the immediate efiect of the Barn-owl's heart- 

 shaped countenance on most people is to make them 

 compare him to a monkey ; his wings are longer than 

 in other Owls, to sustain him in his search over open 

 ground for his victims, as he is not migratory ; and 

 his legs are also long, presumably for convenience 

 in a sudden grapple, since he is not a quick or elegant 

 pedestrian, his long talons being to grip with, not 

 to walk on. There is one point about the Barn- 

 owl's structure, however, that badly needs explana. 

 tion, and that is the small-tooth-comb which he carries 

 on the inner side of his middle claw. It is true that, 

 all birds use this particular claw for scratching their 



