132 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



to the letter, but as it is also conspicuous by having 

 very much shorter wings than the contiaental birds, 

 while the bill and feet are just as big if not bigger, 

 ■ it njay really be a distinct species altogether. This 

 raises the interesting question as to whether the dark 

 insular-tropical Owls of this kind are a primitive 

 race like the small dark human races which have a 

 way of cropping up in out-of-fche-way places, or 

 whether the Barn-owl, when it gets on a tropical 

 island, proceeds with singular uniformity to dege- 

 nerate in complexion and power of wing. One might 

 argue a poiot like this till doomsday, and so as the 

 Barn-owl is an eminently useful bird, it is fortunate 

 that he has been introduced into New Zealand, 

 which is sufficiently insular, if not tropical ; there 

 he can evolve for such of our great-grandsons as 

 take an interest in natural history. 



Unfortunately, and this another point of interest 

 about the Barn-owl, he is not popular. Owls, gener- 

 ally speaking, are considered uncanny as well as 

 stupid ; and the Barn-owl, both in Europe and in 

 India, is the worst reputed of the lot. From Spenser, 

 who called him " the rueful shriek, still waiting on 

 the bere," to the modern Spaniard, who thinks he 

 is of the devil's poultry and drinks the oil out of 

 church lamps, his reputation has been hopelessly 

 bad in the west. And out here the native calls him 



