LITTLE OWL. 145 



it on account of its small size ; the weazel destroys its eggs, 

 and if it ventures out of its hiding-place during the day, 

 it is pursued and tormented by the rook, the magpie, or 

 the jay. 



During the breeding season, these Owls make a continual 

 disturbance ; they fly about, chatter, and call out even 

 during the day. They nestle in their usual hiding-places, 

 in a lonely tree or a large osier bed ; they construct no 

 nest, but deposit their four or five white eggs in a hollow, 

 and the young are hatched after fourteen or fifteen days' 1 

 incubation ; they are clothed with white down spotted with 

 brown. The food of the young ones consists of the same 

 articles as that of the parent birds, and they are easily 

 tamed when taken and brought up from the nest. 



In consequence of the shortness of the wings and tail 

 of these birds, they are almost the shape of a ball, especially 

 when they ruffle their feathers. They measure from ten 

 to ten inches and a quarter in length, and twenty-one to 

 twenty-two inches in expanse ; the tail is about three inches 

 long, and straight at the extremity, and the wings when 

 at rest extend three-fourths of an inch beyond it. The 

 beak is very much hooked, and measures three quarters of 

 an inch in length, in colour pale yellow; the cere is dirty 

 yellow, in some specimens greenish, and covers the round 

 nostrils in the form of tubes. 



The changeable colour of the iris of this bird adds greatly 

 to its beauty ; in the course of a few minutes it varies from 

 orange to silvery-white, passing rapidly through the various 

 intermediate gradations of pearl-colour, sulphur, lemon-yellow, 

 and bright gold. When several of these birds are in a 

 cage together, these changes appear most curious and sin- 

 gular from the effect of contrast. 



The appearance of the legs in this species is weak, the 

 tarsi being closely covered with short feathers ; the toes 



