The owls are nocturnal birds, pursuing their prey by night and sleeping by day. They have a large round head with enormous eyes looking forward. Many species possess two feathery tufts placed on the head greatly resembling horns. In order to enable them to see their prey their eyes are enormously large, capable of taking in every ray of light. To protect them from the cold they are furnished with a dense covering of downy feathers which also prevents the movements of the wing from being heard. The beak is short and horny, but very strong. They prey on small animals, fish, insects, reptiles. The cry of the owl is very peculiar and weird. This, coupled with their strange appearance, has made them objects of superstition. The ancients adopted them as symbols of wisdom. The owls of North America that are the best known are the Horned Owl, the Grayish-barred Owl and the Mottled Owl.
AN OWL.
The Snowy Owl also is found in North America; it is a good fisher, snatching its prey from the water by a sudden grasp of the foot; it also preys on small animals, chasing and striking at them with its foot. It makes its nest on the ground and lays three or four white eggs. Its length is from twenty-two to twenty-seven inches. It extends its wings four feet. There are some species of owl found in America that burrow, living in the same hole with prairie dogs, making their nest in the mouth of the prairie dog's burrow.
Cousins to the owls are the Nightjars, for example, the night hawk and whip-poor-will. They feed on moths and insects which they catch as they fly. Their eggs are laid on the ground without a nest.
The Swallows.
Swallows are remarkable for their great power of wing, their wide mouths, their short legs and weak feet. Their wing feathers are long, stiff and pointed, and their tails are long and forked. Nine species of swallow are found north of Mexico. They spend most of their time on the wing and live almost entirely upon insects which they capture as they fly; their large mouths particularly adapt them for this manner of feeding. They nest frequently in colonies; they migrate in large flocks and can often be seen in great quantities at roosting places. They show skill in the construction of their nests. The purple martin belongs to this family; it is common in the South but rare in the Northern States. The tree swallow builds its nest, of grasses and feathers in the hollow of a tree. The bank swallow nests in a sand-bank.
The Swifts.
The swifts are often confused with swallows owing to the similarity of their flight and the manner in which they feed. A Chimney Swift, commonly but erroneously called the Chimney Swallow, in construction is more like the humming-bird than the swallow; they nest in chimneys about ten feet from the top.
The Kingfisher.