OF NEW ENGLAND. 327 
for their ludicrous or dolefyl cries,.and for their hooting, so 
ill-boding to the superstitious. 
§ 26. There are many things which cannot be defined except 
in their typical states, and, in the classification of birds, the 
typical species often characterize a group by certain features, 
which evidently allied species may possess only in part. 
Thus the owls may be defined as ‘nocturnal birds of prey,” 
though some kinds hunt in daylight like the hawks. All our 
Strigide, however, possess the following structural features 
(besides those which characterize all Raptores): head large, 
and capable of being turned in every direction without any 
movement of the body; eyes looking more or less dircctly 
forward ; ear-feathers often forming noticeable tufts or “horns ;” 
nostrils concealed ; tarsi feathered; general plumage very soft 
and thick. The colors are sober and much variegated, but alike 
in both sexes. The female is generally larger than the male. 
The owls fly silently. Richard Hill, Esq., in Gosse’s “ Birds 
of Jamaica,” says: ‘They search for their prey, as if they 
were pursuing it with the vigilance of the hound. They skim 
along the surface of the earth, glide among trees, explore ave- 
nues, sweep round, rise and fall, wheel short, and dart down, 
but never sail in circles. Their wide staring eyes are placed 
in what may be called their face, being right forward in front, 
and have scarcely any field of vision laterally. They there- 
fore hunt with a forward and downward gaze, like dogs over a 
field. The globe of the eye of these nocturnal raptores, being 
immovably fixed in the socket by a strong elastic cartilaginous 
case, in the form of a truncated cone, they have to turn their 
heads to view objects out of the path of flight, and their neck 
is so adapted for this exertion, that they can with ease turn 
round the head in almost a complete circle, withont moving the 
body.” 
Some owls lay their eggs on the ground or in the hollows of 
trees, but most kinds build a rude nest of sticks, or select an 
old nest of a like nature. Their eggs are 3-6, subspherical, 
white or whitish, and usually without a very smooth shell. 
Their peculiar notes, or hootings, are elsewhere noticed. 
