137 



of Columbus, Ohio, admits it to his list of Ohio birds. They can not be regarded 

 as an Indiana bird, although they may possibly "make their appearance from the 

 Southwest some day when we least expect them," as in the case of the black vul- 

 ture, a Southern species first recorded at Cincinnati by Mr. Langdon, although 

 formerly considered an Ohio bird on the authority of Audubon. On the lower St. 

 Johns, Fla., they are caught and slaughtered by thousands, and the species will 

 doubtless soon be exterminated. 



ORDER C. RAPTORES. 



» {The Birds of Prey.) 



Bill powerful, cered at base, strongly hooked at the end. Feet never zygodactyl ; 

 fourth toe sometimes versatile. Primaries lo ; tail feathers usually 12. Altricial, 

 but the young downy at birth. Carnivorous birds, usually of large size and great 

 strength, found in every part of the world. 



FAMILY— STRIGID^. 



{The Owls.) 



Head very large ; short and broad ; the eyes directed to the front and with a 

 series of peculiar radiating feathers. Loral feathers antrorse, often long and dense ^ 

 ear-like tufts of feathers often present. Plumage soft and lax, rendering the flight 

 almost noiseless; the colors are much blended and mottled. External ear large^ 

 often with a movable flap. Outer toe versatile; claws sharp, strong and long. 

 Chiefly nocturnal. Sexes colored alike, female usually the larger. 



A cosmopolitan family ; most of the species have a wide range. Species about 

 150, in about 40 genera. Owls pass the day in hollow trees or dusky retreats; at 

 night they come forth, and with cat-like stealth capture their prey alive — small 

 mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and even fish. After a meal, what is not digestible — 

 hair, bones, feathers, etc. — is ejected from the mouth, as in most other preying 

 birds, in the shape of a round pellet. The nest is rude ; the eggs several, white, 

 sub-spherical. Their lugubrious outcries, screechings and hootings, have given 

 them place in the literature of superstition, and they have been good game for the 

 poets. "Bird of the silent wing and expansive eye, grimalkin in feathers, feline, 

 mousing, haunting ruins and towers, and mocking the midnight stillness with thy 



uncanny cry." 



When icicles hang by the wall, 



And Dick the shepherd blows his wail, 

 And Tom bears logs into the hall, 



And milk comes frozen in the pail; 

 AVhen blood is nipped, aed ways be foul, 

 Then nightly sings the staring owl, 



Tu-who 

 Tu-whit ! tu-who ! a merry note, 

 While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. 



— Love's Lahor^s Lost, 



