500 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — BAPTOBES— STBIGES. 



enable the birds to see by night, and cause them to suffer from the glare of the sunlight. Most 

 species pass the daytime secreted in hollow trees, or dense foliage and other dusky retreats, 

 resuming theu' wonted activity after nightfall. Owing, to the peculiar texture of the plumage 

 their flight is perfectly noiseless, like the mincing steps of a cat ; and no entirely fanciful anal- 

 ogy has been drawn between these birds and the feline carnivora that chiefly prey stealthily in 

 the dark. The nest is commonly a rude affair of sticks gathered in the various places of diurnal 

 resort ; the eggs are several (commonly 3-6), white, subspherical. The 9 , as a rule, is larger 

 than the ^ , but the sexes are alike in color; the coloration is commonly blended and diffuse, 

 difficult of concise description. Owls feed entirely upon animal substances, and capture their 

 prey alive — small quadrupeds and birds, reptiles and insects, and even flsh. Like most other 

 Baptores, they eject from the mouth, after a meal, the bones, hair, feathers, and other indigesti- 

 ble substances, made up into a round pellet. They are noted for their loud outcries, so strange 

 and often so lugubrious, that it is no wonder traditional superstition places these dismal night- 

 birds in the category of things ill-omened. Besides the well-known lines which are set 

 beneath two of the accompanying figures, the reader may recall the owl as among the ' portents 

 weird ' which foretell the fate of the unhappy queen of Carthage, when, deserted by ' pious ' 

 ./Eneas, she resolves to die. 



•' Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo 

 Ssepequeri, et longas infLetum ducere voces." — Verg., ^n., iv. 462. 



The lioot-owl, brooding ominous above 



Her fateful house, is wearing dismal night away 



"With wild vociferation. Portents weird, etc' 



Owls are among the most completely cosmopolitan of birds; with minor modifications 

 according to cii'cunistances, their general habits are much the same the world over. A diffi- 

 culty of correctly estimating the number of species arises from the fact that many, especially of 

 the more generalized types, have a wide geographical distribution, and, as in nearly all such 

 cases, they split into more or less easily recognized .races, the interpretation of which is at 

 present a matter of opinion rather than a settled issue. About 200 species pass current; this 

 number must be reduced by one-third ; out of about 50 generic names now in vogue, probably 

 less than one-half represent some structural peculiarity. 



29. Family ALUCO]SriD.iE : Barn Owls. 



Tm-o genera of Owls, Aluco and Phodilus, differ so much 

 from other Striges that they may properly constitute a family 

 apart from Strigidm. The prime character is anchylosis of 

 the furcuhim with the sternum, which latter bone is entire 

 behind (unusual; couipare fig. 56). External characters 

 are : facial disc and outer ear-parts highly developed, the 

 former not circular, but rather triangular, the latter sym- 

 metrical ; middle and inner toes of about equal lengths ; inner 

 edge of middle claw serrate or jagged, simulating the pecti- 

 nation seen in Caprimulgidoe, to which birds these owls are 

 curiously related through Steatornis. Th6 pattern of color- 

 ation is peculiar; the plumage is very downy; the habits 

 of the species are eminently nocturnal. The leading genus, 

 Alv^o, of several species or races, is nearly cosmopolitan, 

 being absent only from high latitudes and some insular re 



gions; the other, of one species, Phodilus badius, inhabits 

 Fig. 360. — Barn Owl. (From Dixon.) ^. n?^ A-ni t jt> xtt> 



portions of Eastern Asia, Ceylon, Java and Borneo. — N. B, 



Adoption of the name Aluco for the Bam Owls, instead of Strix, requires the present family to 



