The Hawkeye Ornithologist and Qologist. 



THE OWL. 



' 'When catsrun home and night is cmhp, 



And dew is cold upon the gro^tu 1, 

 And the far off stream is dumb. 

 And the whirring sail goes round. 

 And the whirring sail goes round. 

 Alone, and warming his five wits. 

 The white owl in the belfry sits." 



— Tennyson: The Owl. 



Owls are found in all parts of the 

 world and in all climates, there baing 

 about thirty speciesin North America; 



The owl has from early tim3s baen 

 deemed a bird of evil omen, and has 

 been an object of dread to the super- 

 stitious. It is, perhaps, to be ac- 

 counted for, partly by the sudden 

 and unexpected manner with which 

 it flys by in the shades of twilight, 

 parti}' by the fact that most species 

 haunt the deep woods or ruined 

 buildings, and partly by the startling 

 cry of some of the species, heard so 

 often by the lonely wanderer. From 

 this cry it is evident that the name 

 owl is derived. 



They are an extremely well defined 

 group of birds; their large heads, 

 wierd, cat-like faces, great eyes di- 

 rected forwards, which are surround- 

 ed with discs of radiating feathers, 

 the small, half concealed hooked bill; 

 and th? downy character of the 

 plumage distinguishing them at once 

 from all other birds. The bill is curv- 

 ed almost to the bass, being hooked 

 at the tip. The claws ar* sharp and 

 curved, but less powerful than in the 



diurnal birds of prey. The toes are 

 generally opposed two and two, the 

 outer one being reversible at pleas- 

 ure. The downy plumage and the 

 recurved outer web of the primaries 

 makes the flight almost noiseless, 

 thus enabling them to capture their 

 prey by surprise, their weak wings 

 rendering them almost incapable of 

 pursuit. The peculiar plumage adds 

 a great deal to the apparent size of 

 the body, but the head owes its real- 

 ly large size to the large cavities in 

 the skull, between the outer and in- 

 ner layers, which cavities communi- 

 cate with the ear, and are supposed 

 to add to the acuteness of the sense 

 of hearing. The ear in many species 

 is very large and is furnished with an 

 external arch, which is found in no 

 other birds. The feathers which ra- 

 diate from the eye completely con- 

 pletely conceal the ear; but the 

 feathers surrounding the ear are ar- 

 ranged in the shape of an ear trum- 

 pet, thus rendering the sense still 

 more acute. The feathers surround- 

 ing the eye serve to collect the rays 

 of light and throw them on the pupil 

 so that owls can see as well in twi- 

 light and moonlight as other birds 

 can in the day. 



They feed on all small animals, 

 such as rabbits, mice, birds, lizards, 

 fishes and insects. Their voracity is 

 wonderful, killing even more than 

 they eat. 



Their prey is usually swallowed en- 

 tire, the indigestible, parts being 

 thrown up in the form of pallets. 



