Fig. 274.—Great Owl (Strix bubo, Linn.).
The Great Owl is very courageous, and often has battles with the Tawny Eagle, from which it frequently comes off with honour. The fight is sometimes so severe that it terminates in the death of both combatants.
M. Bailly relates that he was told, by reliable witnesses, that an Eagle and Great Owl, which were fighting together in the mountains of Savoy, drove their claws so deep into one another's flesh that they could not withdraw them, so both died from their wounds on the scene of action. In a similar fight near Zurich a Great Owl, which was the conqueror, was so fastened to its adversary that they fell to the ground together, and, being unable to disengage its talons, was in consequence taken alive.
When wounded so as to be unable to fly, and attacked by dogs, the Great Owl will sell its life as dearly as possible; for, turning upon its back, with open claws and menacing bill it presents an appearance to its enemies which is enough to make the bravest shrink from the assault.
In spite of this combative temperament, the Great Owl easily becomes tame; it knows its name, and comes at the call of its master. Perfect liberty may then be safely allowed it, as it will remain in the neighbourhood of its home, returning at meal-times. Frisch relates that he twice kept birds of this kind, and that they lived for a considerable time; he fed them on ox-flesh and liver. They would sometimes swallow as many as five mice without stopping, having first broken their bones with blows from their bills. In case of necessity they would eat fish. Some hours after taking their food, they ejected the bones and hair of their victims. Instances have been known, however, in which this Owl would not submit to confinement.
The Great Owl is possessed of the strongest attachment to its young. M. Cronstedt, a Swiss gentleman, lived for several years on a farm situated at the foot of a mountain, on the top of which a couple of Great Owls built their nest. The servants caught and shut up in a hen-house one of the young birds, which the thirst for rapine had doubtless impelled prematurely to leave the maternal abode. The next morning they were surprised to find at the door of the hen-house a freshly-killed Partridge. The idea was that the parent birds, attracted by the cries of the young Owl, had thus provided for its sustenance. The same thing occurred fourteen days running. M. Cronstedt, wishing to come to a right understanding on the matter, watched during several nights in order to surprise the hen bird in this act of maternal love. But he failed, probably because the bird, thanks to its penetrating sight, took advantage to leave her offspring's provisions at a moment when his attention was diverted. These parental duties ceased in the month of August, when the young bird became capable of providing for itself.
The Great Owl inhabits Europe and Asia, but is common in Switzerland and Italy. It is not often met with in France, except in the eastern and southern departments, where it rarely remains during winter.
Another species, which is very common in Egypt, differs but little from the last mentioned. It is sometimes seen in the South of Sardinia and Sicily. It is commonly designated by the name of the Great Short-eared Owl.
The Virginian Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), the Strix virginiana of Vieillot, inhabits North and South America. This bird is nearly the size of the Great Owl of Europe; it is distinguished from the latter by a different arrangement of the feathered projections on its head, which, instead of starting from the ears, take their rise close to the bill. This bird feeds on young Gallinaceæ, which it boldly carries off from the very midst of the poultry-yards; the Turkey especially is a particular favourite with it. When other food fails, it feeds on dead fish found on the river-banks. If caught when young it is easily tamed, but as it gets mature its bloodthirsty instincts become so powerful that it ultimately proves a most expensive pet.