268 
Accipitres. BIRDS. Strigidje. 
ally placed upon the ledge of a rock, or the walls of old 
ruins, but sometimes on the ground. The eggs are 
two or three in number, and pure white. The parents 
appear to attend to their young \vith great devotion, at 
least if we may judge from the following anecdote 
related by the late Bishop of Norwich, in his “ Familiar 
History of Birds.” This instance of parental solicitude 
“ was witnessed by a Swedish gentleman, who resided 
several years on a farm near a steep mountain, on the 
summit of which two Eagle Owls had built their nest. 
One day in the month of July, a young bird, having 
quitted the nest, was caught by the Servants. This bird 
was, considering the season of the year, well feathered; 
but the down appeared here and there between those 
feathers which had not yet attained their full growth. 
After it was caught it was shut up in a large hencoop, 
when, to his surprise, on the following morning a fine 
young partridge was found lying dead before the door 
of the coop. It was immediately concluded that this 
provision had been brought there by the old owls, 
which no doubt had been making search in the night- 
time for their lost young one— and such was, indeed, 
the fact ; for night after night, for fourteen days, was 
the same mark of attention repeated. The game which 
the old ones carried to it consisted chieflj' of young 
partridges, for the most part newly killed, but sometimes 
a little spoiled. On one occasion a moorfowl was 
brought, so fresh that it was actually warm under the 
wings ; and at another time a putrid stinking lamb was 
deposited.” 
This bird is frequently seen in confinement, when it 
hisses like a cat, and snaps its bill at any object which 
annoys it, but rarely emits any regular cry. Sir 
William Jardine mentions that a specimen kept by 
him used to “ bark ” incessantly at night, making a 
noise so exactly like the bark of some little cur, as 
to ii'ritate his large housedog, whose angry replies 
disturbed the whole neighbourhood. 
THE VIRGIHIAH HORNED OWL {Bubo virginianus), 
which was formerly supposed to be identical with the 
European species, is a common inhabitant of the United 
States of America, from which it appears to extend its 
range to a considerable distance both north and south. 
Its favourite residence is amongst the gigantic trees of 
the swamps, where in the morning and evening it 
startles the echoes by loud and sudden cries of Waugh 
0! Waugh 0 ! sufficient, as AVilson says, to alarm a 
whole garrison. The same writer gives the following- 
striking account of the varied vocal powers of this 
bird : — “ He has other nocturnal solos, no less melo- 
dious, one of which very strikingly resembles the half- 
suppressed screams of a person sutlbcating, or throttled, 
and cannot fail of being exceeding!}' entertaining to 
a benighted traveller, in the midst of an Indian wilder- 
ness!” The American Indians, like many of their 
more civilized brethren, on this side of the Atlantic, 
entertain a strong superstitious feeling with regard to 
owls; and this Great American Horned Owl, which 
appears to possess the properties necessary for inspiring 
superstitious dread in a pre-eminent degree, is made 
use of by the priests of some tribes of Indians as a 
fitting symbol of the supposed mysteries of their office. 
The Virginian Horned Owl is nocturnal ir its habits. 
sleeping during the day either in the hollow of a tree, 
or under the shadow of the dense masses of foliage 
of the cypress swamps. Its food consists of rabbits, 
squirrels, rats, mice, partridges, and other small birds 
and quadrupeds; and it occasionally steals chickens 
from their roosting places in the farm-yard. The nest, 
which is of considerable size, and composed of a great 
mass of sticks, lined with a few dry leaves and feathers, 
is built on the forked branch of a tall tree, and in it the 
female deposits four eggs, which are nearly round and 
of a pure white colour. 
THE GOOGOO HORNED-OWL {Bubo bengalensis), the 
most abundant and Avidely distributed of the large 
owls of India, usually frequents rocky hills, ravines, 
and old buildings, not unfrequently sheltering itself 
for its diurnal slumbers in the numerous holes which 
occur in such places. On the Neilgherries, how- 
ever, it inhabits the wooded glens. In its general 
habits it is nocturnal, but not so strictly so as some of 
the preceding species ; it flies readily when disturbed 
during the day, and commences its quest for food long 
before dark. The Googoo preys principally upon rats 
and lizards, but often diversifies its diet with small 
birds, ci-abs, and large insects. Its usual cry is a single 
long, clear, and loud hoot, but it sometimes indulges in 
one of those imitations of the noise made by an animal 
undergoing the operation of strangling, which appear to 
be such a favourite mode of exercising their vocal 
powers Avith many owls. The nest is always made in 
a hole or burrow in a bank or rock, and the young are 
said to be inA'ariably tAvo in number. 
THE ORIENTAL HORNED-OWL {Bubo orientalis). 
This, Avhich is also an Indian species of great size and 
strength, inhabits the recesses of dense and lofty woods 
and forests, AA'here the deep shade of the foliage makes 
a sort of twilight even at noon-day, and thus enables 
this bird to seek its prey at a time Avhen most of its 
relatives are taking their repose. Its chief activity is, 
hoAvever, at night, Avhen it issues forth into the open 
country. The food of this oavI consists principally of 
pheasants, hares, rats, and snakes; but it sometimes 
preys upon the faAvns of the small Indian deer, and Mr 
Jerdon was informed by an intelligent native that fisTi 
also form a part of its aiet, and that it Avill dive to some 
depth for them. 
THE YELLOW- FOOTED OWL {Ketupa flavipes). 
Besides the preceding, several species of Horned-OAvls 
inhabit the East Indies and the adjacent islands, and 
of these three have been formed into a peculiar genus, 
Avhich has been Ketupa, from the Javanese name 
of the species first described. The most striking dis- 
tinctive character of these birds consists in their having 
the whole of the feet bare of feathers, and covered Avith 
a granular or irregularly scaly skin. 
The YelloAV-Footed OavI is a tolerably common species 
in many parts of India, especially towards the north, 
and also abounds in the Indian Islands and in Siam. 
It is a large, heavy, clumsy, but poAverful bird, which 
flies Avell by day, and is usually found in the vicinity of 
rivers, Avhere it preys upon fish and crabs. Amongst 
the Siamese, according to Mr. Finlayson, “the skull of 
this bird is held in considerable estimation as a medicine 
in small-po.x, and chiefly to check and alleviate the 
