BOOBOOK OWL. 
a sound which the bush-dwellers invariably attribute to the Podargus, which 
is frequently called the Mopoke. I am aware that some observers believe 
th-Q Podargus also calls ‘Mopoke,’ but the only sound which I can personally 
attribute to the latter is a curious moaning noise, uttered when sitting upon 
a stump or fence. The true Boobook Owl [N. hoobook) we have not in 
Tasmania, or, at any rate, I have not so far seen a specimen during a long 
residence in the bush, nor are there anv in our museums.” 
*/ 
Other notes chiefly concerning the nidiflcation of the Tasmanian bird 
appear in the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat, No. 1, Vol. III., where, under the name 
Ninox maculata {=clelandi). North records specimens from New South Wales 
and Victoria. As the latter locality is inhabited by birds which are intermediate 
between the true boobook and the true {maculata) clelandi, sometimes recorded 
under one name and sometimes under the other, I here include notes referring 
to such specimens. 
From the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat, No. 1, Vol. III., I extract Keartland’s 
notes as follows : “ I have observed the Boobook Owl {Ninox boobook) in 
nearly every part of Australia I have visited, but it appears to be most 
numerous in Victoria. Although nocturnal birds, they can see well in broad 
daylight. Whilst collecting in the Dandenong Ranges, near Bayswater, I 
disturbed a Boobook Owl in one of the gullies, and, obser\^ing that it held 
something in one of its talons, I shot the bird and found that it was devouring 
a freshly killed Pilot- bird {Pycnoptilus floccosus), the remaining portion of 
which was quite warm and limp. The Boobook Owl lives principally on 
birds and mice. At Preston they are troublesome in disturbing the birds 
in my aviary at night. On going to see whether some stray cat was causing 
the birds to flutter, I have, on several occasions, found one of these Owls 
hanging on to the wire netting. In our Pittosporum trees, where a number of 
the acclimatised Sparrows, Starlings and Minahs roost, the Boobook Owl is 
a regular visitor, usually about 9 p.m., his presence being announced by 
the squealing of his victim.” \\ 
Dr. D’Ombrain added : “ Ninox boobook is very common, and is also 
frequently shot for being a ‘ night Hawk.’ During 1904, Mr. W. McLennan 
found five of the nests of this bird ; two had clutches of three eggs. One 
of these nests (containing three young birds) was in the same hollow as that 
occupied by a family of three young Kookaburras {Dacelo gigas) which were 
only three feet away. These Owls make charming pets, and have always 
been my favourite bird in captivity ; their quaint movements, coupled with 
their really human faces and grave demeanour, make them most interesting. 
That they will keep a house clear of rats and mice I am positive, having 
known them to do so.” 
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