CHAPTER VI.

THE OSPREYS AND OWLS.

THE OSPREY--Distribution--Food--How it Seizes its Prey--Nesting Communities--STRIGES, or OWLS--Distinctions between Hawks and Owls--Owls in Bird-lore and Superstition--Families of the Sub-order--THE FISH OWL--PEL’S FISH OWL--THE EAGLE OWL--Dr. Brehm’s Description of its Appearance and Habits--THE SNOWY OWL--HAWK OWLS--PIGMY OWLETS--THE SHORT-EARED OWL--THE LONG-EARED OWL--THE BARN OWL--The Farmer’s Friend--Peculiar Characters--Distribution 296

THE SECOND ORDER.--PICARIAN BIRDS.