No. 133 of 248 · The Natural History Series
Barn Owl
Pictures by Elizabeth Gould and Edward LearWords by John Gould
A barn owl with a pale heart-shaped face and golden speckled wings looks down from its wooden perch, a hand-coloured plate from John Gould's The Birds of Europe. Drawn by Elizabeth Gould and Edward Lear, it shows the bird whose dish-like face lets it hunt a mouse in total darkness by sound alone. For a bird lover or anyone who likes a quiet, wise-looking friend.
Add four of your own photos and your own words; we print the card in the US and post it for you.
On the back
From the great natural-history books of the 1700s to the 1900s / BARN OWL / Tyto alba / The barn owl lives on every continent except Antarctica. Its heart-shaped face gathers sound like a dish, so it can catch a mouse in total darkness by ear alone. / The Birds of Europe, 1832-37 / John Gould's great bird book, drawn by his wife Elizabeth Gould and by Edward Lear, and coloured by hand.
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