Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS

THE ROLLERS AND THEIR ALLIES

THE OWLS

Owlets

Perhaps most closely allied to the last are the members of the genus Athene, a group of six Old World species known as Owlets. As the common name implies, they are birds of small size, all more or less spotted, never barred, with white on the upper surface. The cere is swollen, and the small round orifice of the nostril opens near its front margin. The facial disk is scarcely recognizable, while the tail is of moderate length and the wings rounded, with the third quill generally longest; the tarsus and toes are feathered.

The Little Owl, or Owlet (A. noctua), is a pretty little bird some eleven and a half inches in length, found in central and southern Europe. The upper parts are brown, mottled and spotted with white, while the lower parts are mostly white, streaked and mottled with brown on the breast. Its habits are much like those of our common Screech Owl, since it frequents gardens, orchards, and old buildings, especially about villages and farm-yards.

Although chiefly nocturnal, it is also often seen abroad during the daytime seeking its prey, which consists of mice, small birds, and insects.”It makes no regular nest, but places its eggs in a hole in an old wall or rock, or in buildings, in a hollow tree, or in a hole in the ground.”The eggs usually number from three to five and are generally laid in May. A paler, lighter-colored race (A. glaux) inhabits the deserts of southern Europe and northern Africa, whence it ranges through Asia Minor, Palestine, and Persia, while another form, known as Hunter's Owlet (A. bactri-ana), with more densely feathered toes, extends from Afghanistan through central Asia and Tibet to northern China. Their habits, so far as known, resemble those of the first species. In the Indian peninsula one of the best-known species is the Spotted Owlet (A. brama). It is smaller than the others, being only eight inches long, a uniform brown or grayish above, with numerous white spots arranged in pairs, while the tail is crossed by from four to six white bars, and the under surface is mainly white, crossed in some parts by brown bars.

Avoiding the forests, it keeps mainly to the trees in cultivated tracts, especially gardens, and, according to Mr. Blanford, is”commonly found roosting and breeding in the roofs of houses.”It feeds chiefly on large insects, but mice, lizards, and small birds are also added to the bill of fare when occasion presents.”It’s usual call is a double note, but it keeps up a continual chatter at times, especially in the evening, often before sunset, always long before dark, when it issues forth from its hiding-place to perch on a pole or fence or telegraph-wire.”The eggs, from three to five in number, are placed in holes in trees, a building, or a cleft in a rock. An allied species (A. pulchra) occurs in the Burmese provinces.

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