ATHENE STRENUA, Gould.
Powerful Owl.
Athene strenua, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 142 ; and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part III.
W it h the exception of the Eagles, Aquila fucosa and Ichthyiaetus leucogaster, this is the most powerful of
the Raptorial birds yet discovered in Australia. Its strength is prodigious, and woe to him who ventures
to approach its clutch when wounded. So far as I have been able to ascertain, the habitat o f the Athene
strenua is confined to New South W a le s ; a t all events no examples occur in collections made in any
other p art of Australia. It is strictly an inhabitant o f the brushes, particularly o f those which stretch
along the coast from Po rt Philip to Moreton Bay. I have also obtained it in the interior on the precipitous
sides of the Liverpool range, which are known to the colonists by the name o f the cedar brushes, where
the, silence of night is frequently broken by its hoarse loud mournful note, which more resembles the
bleating of an ox thau any other sound I can compare it to. During the day i t reposes under the
canopy o f the thickest trees, from which however it is readily roused, when it glides down the gulleys with
remarkable swiftness; the manner in which so large a bird threads the trees while flying with such velocity
is indeed truly astonishing.
Its food consists of birds and quadrupeds, of which the brushes furnish a plentiful supply. In the
stomach of one I dissected in the Liverpool range were the remains o f a bird and numerous green
seed-like berries, resembling small p e a s ; but w hether they had formed the contents o f the stomach of a bird
or quadrup.ed the Owl had devoured, or whether the large Owls of Australia, which certainly offer some
difference in their structure from every other group of the family, live partly on berries and fruits, it would
be interesting to know; a fact which can only be ascertained by residents in the country.
The bill o f this species stands out from the face very prominently; it has also a smaller head and more
diminutive eyes than the Athene connivens, although it is a much larger bird.
The sexes differ but little in the colouring of the plumage or in size.
Crown of the head, all. the upper surface, wings and tail dark clove-brown, crossed by numerous bars of
broccoli-brown, which become much larger, lighter, and more conspicuous on the lower p art of the back,
the inner edges o f the secondaries and of the ta il; face, throat, and upper p art o f the chest buff, with a
large patch of dark brown down the centre of each fea th e r; the remainder of the under surface white,
slightly tinged with buff, and crossed with irregular bars of brown; bill light blue at the base, passing into
black at the tip ; feet pale gamboge-yellow; toes covered with whitish hairs ; irides yellow ; cere greenish
olive.
The Plate represents the bird about two-tliirds o f the natural size, with a young Koala (Phascolarctos
fuscus, Desm.) in its claws, an animal very common in the brushes.