328 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



notes, some smothered, and dull others loud and clear. " These notes are often vari- 

 ously modulated by the bird itself or the action of the air, and are supposed by the 

 superstitious peasants to form connected sentences, as, for instance, ' Komm-mit, komm- 

 mit auf den Kirschoff-hof-hof (Come with me, come with me to the churchyard- 

 yard-yard) ; ' and the bird is looked on by them as a prophet foretelling death." Al- 

 though this species destroys some small birds, it is in the main decidedly beneficial, 

 feeding mainly on mice and other small rodents, and insects. 



The single other species of this peculiar genus is the spotted-owl, Athene brama, 

 which is a well-known and abundant bird in India, where it replaces the little owl. 



In the extreme southwest of the United States, a tiny owl is found, which seems to 

 be somewhat nearly related to the several species already mentioned, although per- 

 haps equally near the pigmy-owls w r hich follow. It is known as Whitney's owl, J\Ii- 

 crathene wliitneyi, and the first specimen was taken by Dr. J. G. Cooper at Fort 

 Mojave in the valley of the Colorado in 1861. During the next dozen years only two 

 or three more specimens came to light, and it is only within the last three or four 

 years that it has been met Avith more abundantly, while it is still very rare in collec- 

 tions. It is undoubtedly the smallest known species of owl, 'and one of the very 

 smallest of all birds of prey ; the only ones which approach it at all being one or 

 two species of the pigmy-owls (Glaucidiwn) and the finch-falcons (Hierax). The 

 total length of large specimens seldom exceeds six inches, the average being probably 

 about five and three-quarters inches. The tail measures between two and two and 

 one-quarter inches, while the wings, which are proportionally longer than in most 

 owls, average about four and one-quarter inches. 



Like all the owls thus far mentioned, it has no ' plumicorns ' (ear-tufts), the legs 

 are bristly, being feathered but slightly below the heel joint, and the facial disk is im- 

 perfect. This last condition is in most owls found to accompany more or less diurnal 

 habits, but the present species seems to be pretty strictly nocturnal. One of its most 

 peculiar characteristics is seen in the claws, which, as Dr. Coues says, are "remarkably 

 small, weak, and little curved ; hardly more than insessorial instead of raptorial in 

 character." Its coloration is not easily described, but in general it is light brown 

 above, each feather with an angular dot of lighter color. There is an indistinct 

 whitish collar about the neck, and a white stripe along each shoulder. The under 

 parts are whitish, blotched and imperfectly barred with reddish-brown, and the wings 

 and tail are brown, barred with whitish. The face is mostly white, and the iris bright 

 yelloAV. The sexes seem to be exactly alike in size and color. 



This interesting little owl, so far as now known, seems to be most abundant in 

 Arizona, where several collectors have met with it, and two specimens have also been 

 taken on Socorro Island, off the west coast of Mexico. Mr. F. Stephens recently 

 found it fairly common in the region about Tucson, Arizona, where he found the 

 females frequenting the giant cactuses, and breeding in holes of their stems, while the 

 males were more often met w r ith in elder and willow thickets. The first specimen Avas 

 discovered by accident, in cutting down a cactus to examine a woodpecker's hole. 



Mr. William BreAvster has given an account of Mr. Stephens' collection, and pub- 

 lishes many field-notes on the birds observed. Among Mr. Stephens' notes is the 

 folloAving account of the present species. " I was walking past an elder-bush in a 

 thicket, when a small bird started out. Thinking it had flown from its nest I stopped, 

 and began examining the bush, when I discovered a Whitney's OAV! sitting on a branch 

 with its side towards me, and one wing held up, shield-fashion, before its face. I 



