Finally, we have the White or Barn-owl, which with its allies forms a group distinguished from all the other owls by certain well-marked structural characters. The barn-owl is also to be found in Great Britain, but is growing, like all the other owls in this area, more and more rare every year, owing to persecution at the hands of gamekeepers. It is a handsome bird, of a pale buff-yellow, mottled with grey above to pure white beneath, and with the characteristic facial disk peculiarly well developed. It breeds in holes in trees, ruins, and church towers, and feeds almost entirely on mice and rats. From the piercing note which it occasionally utters, it is also known as the Screech-owl.
Photo by Frans Mouwen] [Breda.
BARN-OWL
This is a British owl, evincing a preference for church-towers in which to roost and breed.
Photo by C. N. Mavroyeni, Smyrna. Printed at Lyons, France.
HOOPOE FLYING.
This photograph displays the crest fully elevated, and likewise shows the beautifully banded colouration of the under surface of the wing, as well as the position of the wings in flight.