The laughing owl (Sceloglaux albifacies), also known as whēkau or the white-faced owl, was an endemic owl of New Zealand. Plentiful when European settlers arrived in New Zealand, a scientific description was published in 1845, but it was largely or completely extinct by 1914. The species belonged to the monotypic genus Sceloglaux ("scoundrel owl", probably because of the mischievous-sounding calls).