Note: Information is dated. Do not rely on it.

Owl. The popular name applied to the families Strigidae and Bubonidae, of the ordez Raptores, or birds of prey. The owl is easily recognized. The head is extremely large; the eyes huge and directed forward; the bill short and stout; the apertures of the cars very large; the legs feathered; the toes four in number, the outer one capable of being directed backward. The plumage is full and remarkably soft, the feathers of the face being so arranged as to form two discs around the eyes. The owls are cosmopolitan in their distribution, ranging over the whole of the globe from the highest northern latitudes, and are even found in the remotest oceanic islands. They feed on small mammals, birds, fishes, and insects, swallowing the hair, bones, feathers, and scales, which they afterward disgorge in the shape of "pellets." Their flight is buoyant and noiseless. They place their nests on the ground, among rocks, in hollow trees, and in buildings, while some resort to the old nests of other birds. They lay from two to five roundish white eggs.

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