30 NEW-YORK FAUNA BIRDS. 



THE ACADIAN OWL. 



Ulula acadica. 

 plate xii. fig. 23. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Strix acadica, Gmelin. 



Limit Owl, S.passemna. Wils. Am. Orn. Vol. 4, p. 60, pi. 34, fig. 1. 



S. acadica. Aud. folio, pi. 191, m. and f. Orn. Biog. Vol. 2, p. 5G7 ; Vol. 5, 397. 



Acadian Owl. Ntjttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 137. 



American Sparrow Owl. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 97. 



Nyctale acadica. Bonap. Geog. and Comp. List. p. 6- 



Little or Acadian Owl. Aud. B. of A. Vol. 1, p. 123, pi. 33 (male and female). 



Ulula acadica. Giraup, Birds of Long island, p. 23. 



Characteristics. Dark brown, spotted with white ; beneath whitish, blotched with rufous. 

 Tail and wings subequal ; the former with 2-3 narrow bars. Length, 

 8 inches. 



Description. Nostrils oval, small. Ear-opening with a moderately broad operculum. 

 Third primary longest. Tail even, scarcely rounded. No tufts. Facial disk complete. Inner 

 and middle claw channelled ; the other rounded beneath. Tarsus and toes with long hairy 

 feathers extending to the roots of the claws. 



Color. Light reddish brown above, with spots and blotches of white. Disk ashen grey, 

 darker near the orbits, often rayed with dusky. Summit of the head with longitudinal streaks 

 of white and dark brown. Bill and claws bluish black. Irides yellow. Beneath, white or 

 greyish white, with scattered chocolate-brown blotches generally assuming a longitudinal di- 

 rection. Large white spaces on the throat and neck. Primaries, when extended, exhibiting 

 four or five bars of white. Tail also with two or more narrow bars of white. 



Length, 8-0-10-0. Alar extent, 18-0-20-0. 



The Little Owl, or Saw-whet as it is called in Massachusetts and this State, is found in 

 every part of the Union. It ranges from 39° to 50° north latitude. It has a sharp note like 

 the filing of a saw, and, according to Audubon, another like the tinkling of a bell. It breeds 

 in swamps, in rotten trees or stumps, and in abandoned nests, laying 4 - 6 white eggs. It 

 feeds on insects, small birds and quadrupeds. It is closely allied to the succeeding. 



(EXTRA-LIMITALA 



U. richardsoni. (Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 1, p. 122, pi. 32.) Small. Not tufted. Olive brown 

 above, spotted with white in regular series. Tail with five bars of interrupted spots ; margin white. 

 Length, 12 inches. Maine and Arctic regions. 



