The Oivls. 
109 
and towards the ground with the other. The facial disk is very evident in Teng- 
malm’s Owl and is pure white : there are no ear-tufts, and the toes are much more 
densely clothed with feathers than in the Little Owl, which is of about the same size, 
and it is much more distinctly spotted with white than the latter bird. The species 
has occurred on some sixteen occasions in various parts of England and twice 
in Scotland. It is an inhabitant of the mountains of Europe and Northern Asia, 
as well as of North America. It feeds on Lemmings and other small rodents, as 
well as insects. The eggs are white and from four to seven in number, and are 
laid in holes of trees, an old nesting-place of the Great Black Woodpecker being 
often thus utilized, as well as the wooden nest-boxes put up by the peasants 
for the Golden-Eye Duck to breed in. 
of the globe. The food of the species consists 
principally of mice and rats, of which it catches an immense number, going in 
pursuit of them in the twilight and during the night : it also eats small birds, but 
does little or no harm to game. The eggs are white, about one-and-a-half inches in 
length, and are placed at the bottom of a hole in a hollow tree or ruin : no nest is 
made, but there is generally an assemblage of pellets thrown up by the birds 
themselves. 
and black spots, the white or buff under surface, 
and the pectinated or comb-like margin of the 
claw on the middle toe, are all characters which 
serve to distinguish the Barn-Owl at a glance. 
Though found nesting in every part of the 
British Islands, it is by no means so plentiful 
in many parts of Europe, extending no further 
north than the south of Sweden and Central 
Russia, and being apparently absent in Greece 
and other parts of South-Eastern Europe. Barn- 
Owls, slightly varying in size and colour from 
our European bird, are found over the greater 
part of the tropical and temperate portions 
The Barn-Owl. 
