STRIGID^E. ATHENE IIYPUGCEA. 77 



with the Bizcacha (Lagostomus trlchodactylus), an animal that bears resemhlance to 

 the rabbit and agouti, and undermines a great extent of country with its burrows. 

 This Owl is similar to that which inhabits the holes of the marmots upon the prai- 

 ries of Western North America. A writer, speaking of the habits of that variety, 

 remarks : ' We have no evidence that the Owl and Marmot habitually resort to one 

 burrow ' ; and Say adds, that they were either common though unfriendly residents 

 of the same habitation, or that our Owl was the sole occupant of a burrow acquired 

 by the right of conquest. In this respect they differ from their South American 

 brothers, who live in perfect harmony with the Bizcacha, and during the day, while 

 the latter is sleeping, a pair of Owls stand a few inches within the main entrance of 

 the burrow, and at the first sound, be it near or distant, they leave their station and 

 remain outside the hole, or upon the mound that forms the roof of their domicile. 

 When man approaches, both birds mount above him in the air, and keep up an 

 alarm-note, with their irides dilated, until he passes. Then they quietly settle down 

 in the grass, or return to their former place. On the Pampas I did not observe these 

 birds taking their prey during the daytime, but as soon as the sun had set, the Biz- 

 cacha and Owls leave their holes, in search of food, the young of the former play- 

 ing about the birds as they alight near them. They do not associate in companies, 

 there being but one pair to a hole. Each couple keeps separate from their neigh- 

 bors, and at night do not stray from their homes. 



" In North America this species suddenly disappears in the early part of August, 

 and, the Indians say, returns into its burrow and spends the winter in a torpid state, 

 and also it is ' strictly diurnal.' In South America, it has not these habits ; it does 

 not disappear for a season, and it is both diurnal and nocturnal, for in Banda Ori- 

 ental and the province of San Juan I have seen it feed at all hours. At longitude 

 66 west, our company struck the Travesia, and during fourteen clays' travel on foot 

 I did not see a dozen of these birds. But while residing outside the town of San 

 Juan, which lies upon the eastern base of the Andes, one hundred and fifty miles 

 north of Mendoza, I had a fine opportunity to watch their habits in a locality differ- 

 ing entirely from the Pampas. The country around San Juan is -a, dreary desert, 

 covered with low thorn-trees, and over this waste a few Owls are found, principally 

 near the town itself, in the vicinity of the pastures that are cultivated by irrigation. 

 The months of September and October are the conjugal ones. One evening I was 

 attracted by a strange sound that I supposed proceeded from a frog, but it proved 

 to be the love-note of a little Athene cunicularia, and which was answered by his 

 mate. The little fellow alighted upon a post and commenced turning around upon 

 it, with throat dilated and emitting a guttural sound. These antics were continued 

 for more than a minute, he occasionally bowing his head in a mysterious manner, 

 which reminded us of an old male Pigeon of our dove-cots. The female soon after 

 joined him, and they flew away. Each night he perched himself upon a tall flag- 

 staff and uttered his love-note. Close by the house was a lagoon, the borders of 

 which were swampy, and over this a pair often hovered in search of food. I watched 

 one that kept on the wing for nearly two hours, some fifty feet from the ground, 

 and during that time did not change his position in any other way than by rising 



