264 Accipitres. BIRDS. Strigid^. 
JAKDINE’S HARRIER {Circus Jardinii), another 
Australian species, is remarkable for the great beauty 
of its plumage, which is of a fine chestnut colour 
generally, with the whole lower surface of the body and 
the shoulders elegantly spotted with white. The tips 
of the wings are nearly black, and the long tail is 
marked with alternate bars of blackish-brorvn and pale 
grey. Its habits exactly resemble those of the pre- 
ceding species. 
THE FROG-EATIHG HARRIER {Circus ranivorus), 
discovered by Le Vaillant at the Cape of Good Hope, 
is described by him as being so much addicted to that 
diet which is sometimes said to be also a favourite 
with his countrymen, that even the Dutch boors and 
Hottentots had given it the name of Kikvors vanger, 
or the “Frog-catcher.” Gliding gracefully over the 
marshes and pools, this bird watches intently for the 
appearance of any unlucky frog amongst the reeds; 
and the moment he catches a glimpse of his intended 
prey he dashes impetuously down amongst the herbage, 
seizes his victim, and devours him on the spot. He 
also destroys water-fowl, especially when young, and 
appears sometimes to catch fishes. The nest of this 
species is made amongst the plants of the marshes 
frequented by it, and composed of fragments of their 
stems and leaves. The eggs are three or four in num- 
ber, and, like those of all known Harriers, of a white 
colour. 
Family III.— STRIGID^. 
Tiie nocturnal birds of prey, or those whose princi- 
pal period of activity is the darkness or twilight, form 
only a single family, that of the Strigidse, or Owls. 
These birds are distmguished from those of the pre- 
ceding families by several sufficiently striking characters, 
the most prominent of which are undoubtedly those 
which bear a relation to their nocturnal mode of life. 
Thus, the plumage is very soft and downy, rendering 
the flight of the Owls perfectly noiseless, so that the 
birds are enabled to execute the most rapid manoeuvres 
in the air without producing any flapping sound to give 
notice of their approach to the most wary of their prey. 
Their eyes are of very large size, with immense pupils, 
and consequently adapted to receive every ray of light 
that may be available for vision. These organs are 
placed in such a manner as to look almost directly 
forward, and not, as in the day-flying hawks and eagles, 
on the sides of the head. In both these particulars, as 
previously stated, the harriers make a certain approach 
to the owls; but these characters are exhibited by them 
in a far less distinct form than in the birds of the pre- 
sent family, and none of them are known to hunt their 
prey in the twilight. Of course this structure of the 
eye in the owls, however important to them in the 
imperfect light in which they are destined to be abroad, 
is by no means advantageous in broad day-light, and 
when exj)Osed to the latter, they evince their discom- 
fort in the most evident manner. In a strong light 
they can hardly see, but sit perfectly helpless and con- 
fused, staring in a most ludicrous fashion at the objects 
presented to them, and taking any opportunity of 
withdrawing into some obscure corner. The ears also 
are of larger size than in any other birds, and are 
usually furnished vfith a sort of lid to cover the large 
cavity in which they open. 
The head is large, and there is no ridge over the 
eyes, as in the Falconidre. The feathers of the face are 
somewhat hair-like in their texture, and are arranged 
in a radiating form round the eyes, constituting a pecu- 
liar disc of irregularly circular form on each side of the 
face. In some cases this disc completely surrounds the 
eye; in others the upper part of the face is clothed with 
ordinary feathers, and the peculiar feathers of the disc 
are only seen beneath and on the sides of the eye. The 
feathers of the face bordering the inner margin of the 
eye, which form the inner part of the facial disc, pro- 
ject more or less forwards, and conceal the base of the 
bill, which is short and hooked, and furnished with a 
naked cere. 
The wings are rather short, broad, and rounded, 
indicating far less power of flight than is possessed by 
any of the hawks and vultures ; but, on the other hand, 
the legs are stout and powerful, and armed with sharp 
claws, of which an eagle need hardly be ashamed. 
The whole of the tarsi and the toes nearly to their tips 
are generally clothed with feathers, which are usually 
of a hair-like texture. The outer toe in each foot is 
reversible, or capable of being turned backwards, in 
the manner of that of a parrot. 
These birds are solitary in their habits, living in 
pairs in the holes of trees, rocks, old buildings, and 
other retired places, where they conceal themselves 
during the daytime, issuing forth in the evening to 
seek their prey. This consists principally of the smaller 
vertebrated animals, especially Mammalia, many of 
which are nocturnal. The smaller owls also feed fre- 
quently upon the insects, such as moths and beetles, 
which come abroad in the twilight, and the indigestible 
portions of all their prey are collected in the stomach 
into little pellets, which are then disgorged. Their 
voices are generally loud and discordant, and when 
heard in the silence of the night, have, no doubt, had 
much to do with the superstitious fear with which these 
birds are commonly regarded by the vulgar in most 
countries — a feeling probably enhanced by the noiseless 
flight of the bird, and its often frequenting the church- 
yards and other solitary places, such as ruins, which 
are regarded with a certain degree of awe by the igno- 
rant and superstitious. We shall now refer to some of 
the more important species of this family, commencing 
with — 
THE SNOWY OWL {Surma mycfea)— Plate 4, fig. 12. 
— Although the birds of this family are generally cha- 
racterized, as already stated, by their adaptation to a 
nocturnal mode of life, there are some whose organiza- 
tion enables them to bear the light of day, so that they 
can go abroad in search of their prey .even when the 
sun is shining brightly. The most diurnal of these 
exhibit a striking approach in some of their characters 
to the hawks, and especially to the harriers; their 
heads and eyes are comparatively smaller than in the 
more typical owls, their facial discs are imperfect, and 
their ears are smaller and less complicated than in 
the strictly nocturnal species of this family. Hence 
these owls have been denominated Hawk Owls. Their 
