74 NORTH AMERICAN OOLOGY. PART I. 



NYCTALE ACADICA. 



-v 



Strix acadica, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 296. 



BONAP. Syn. 1828, p. 38. 



" RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. TI, 1831, 97. 



" "* NUTTALL, Manual, I, 1832, 137. 



AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1835, 567 ; V, 397 ; pi. cxcix. 

 " DE KAY, Nat. Hist. N. Y. 1844, pi. xi, fig. 23. 



Strix acadiensis, LATHAM, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 65. 

 Strix passerina, WILSON, Am. Orn. TV, 1812, 61, pi. xxxiv, fig. 1. 

 Nyctale acadica, BONAP. Geog. and Comp. List, 1838, p. 7. 



" CASSIN, Syn. N. A. Birds (Illust. Birds of Cat.), 1854, p. 186. 

 Ulula acadica, AUD. Syn. 1839, p. 24. 

 " " " Birds of Am. I, 1840, 123, pi. xxxiii. 



VULG. The Acadian Owl. The Little Owl. The Scnv-Wliet. American Sparrow- Owl. 



THE Saw- Whet Owl, as this bird is often called, seems to be distributed through- 

 out nearly all North America, but with some degree of irregularity. Although not 

 observed by Sir John Richardson in the Arctic regions, it has been obtained as far 

 north as New Caledonia. Dr. Towusend observed it in Oregon, Dr. Gambel in Cali- 

 fornia, Mr. Audubon in Kentucky and Louisiana, Wilson in New Jersey, McCullock 

 in Nora Scotia, and Dr. Hoy in Wisconsin. I have an egg from Northern Ohio, 

 and have also observed the bird in various parts of New England. Its nocturnal and 

 secluded habits withdraw it from general observation, so that it is quite possible that 

 this species is a very common one, even where its very existence has been unknown. 

 The Acadian Owls rear their young in the hollows of trees, often only a few feet 

 from the ground, in the deserted nests of other birds, in the crevices of rocks, and, 

 according to Wilson, occasionally construct nests for themselves among thick pine- 

 trees. The eggs are nearly spherical, are of a bright clear white, and more like a 

 Woodpecker's than an Owl's in their crystalline clearness. A specimen from North- 

 ern Ohio measures 1 T \ inches by -if. 



