Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/766

 752 OWL ing prey in morning and evening twilight; the tail broad, and of various lengths ; tarsi usual- ly short, strong, feathered to the toes except in the Asiatic genus Icetupa; the inner toe the longest, and the outer capable of being turned back as in scansorial birds; the claws long, curved, and very acute. The plumage is soft and downy; the female is the larger, resem- bling the male in colors ; the expression of the face and eyes is cat-like ; the eggs are two to five, and white, and the young are covered with a fine down. The mouth is very wide, and the oesophagus capacious, leading directly to the stomach, without any dilatation or crop ; the intestines are short, and with two large C80ca. Owls are solitary birds, retiring during the day to holes in trees, caves, or old build- ings, where they roost and breed; most are nocturnal, but a few fly by day, in habits re- sembling the falconidce, especially the kites ; the larger species feed on small quadrupeds (particularly mice) and birds, and the smaller on insects, such as moths and large beetles ; if the prey be small, it is swallowed whole, or is torn to pieces if necessary, and the indigestible portions, such as feathers, hair, and bones, are disgorged from the stomach in small pellets. They are great benefactors to man by destroy- ing mice and other noxious animals; but from their nocturnal habits and dismal screeching cry they are generally regarded with supersti- tious fear. In the Scriptures the owl is almost always associated with desolation; painters, poets, and story tellers introduce it as a bird of ill omen, and as the companion of ghosts, witches, demons, and magicians ; almost all un- cultivated nations look upon it as an unwel- come visitor ; the ancient Greeks and Eomans, however, made it the emblem of wisdom, and sacred to Minerva, and indeed its large head and solemn eyes give it an air of wisdom, which its brain does not sanction. In the first subfamily, the strigince, the size is never very large ; the head is smooth and bulky, and the facial disk perfect ; the bill rather long, eyes rather small, legs long and feathered to the toes. In the genus strix (Linn.) belong the barn owls; in this the win^|.are long, and the head without tufts ; of the dozen species scat- tered over the world will be mentioned only two. The American barn owl (S. pratincola, Bonap.) is 18 in. long, with an extent of wings of 3f ft. in the female ; the male is an inch shorter and 2 in. less in extent. The general color above is yellowish or grayish brown, finely mottled with light yellowish red, each feather having toward the end a central deep brown streak ending in a grayish white spot ; quills and tail transversely banded with black- ish brown ; under coverts of wings and tail white ; under parts pale brownish red, fading anteriorly into white, each feather tipped with a ^dark brown spot ; the face white, tinged with red, with a ruff of light brownish red ; the bill, toes, and claws light yellowish. It occurs throughout temperate North America, breeding at all seasons in the southern states ; it is not found far from the sea, and frequents the borders of woods and open abandoned fields ; it feeds almost entirely on quadrupeds, American Barn Owl (Strix pratincola). and sometimes digs up moles and mice like the burrowing owl ; its flight is light, regular, and protracted, and it runs rapidly; according to Audubon it makes no cry, but utters a hollow hissing sound. The European barn owl (S. flammea, Linn.) is considerably smaller than the American, being only 14 in. in length and 3 ft. in extent of wings ; it is lighter colored, more yellowish, with gray and brown zigzag lines and whitish dots above ; it is whitish be- low, and the ruff is white. It is found abun- dantly in Great Britain and other temperate parts of Europe, in Asia, and in Africa, espe- cially in cultivated districts in the neighbor- hood of fields and farm yards where it can find a plentiful supply of mice ; though a sin- gle bird will destroy annually several hundred mice and moles, besides noxious insects, it is constantly persecuted for its alleged injury to game birds and the dove cote ; it sometimes captures fish by dropping upon them in the water ; its general note is a screech, hence it is commonly called screech owl in Great Brit- ain ; it rears several broods in a season between July and December. In the second subfamily, the bubonincB, the facial disk is incomplete above the eyes and bill, and the large, broad, and flat head is furnished with a pair of long erectile ear tufts, which have given them the name of horned owls ; legs and claws usually very strong. This subfamily is spread all over the world, except in Australia, and contains some of the largest as well as some of the smallest of the family. The genus lubo (Cuv.) is of large size and robust form; the large eyes and ear tufts have given them the name of cat owls ; the wings are long, the tail short, the legs densely feathered, the bill short, and the claws very strong. The American great horned owl (B. Virginianus^ Bonap.) is from 20