06 



XUUTII A.MKUICAX BIKDS. 



ered with low tliorn-trees, and over tliis waste a few Owls are found, princi- 

 pally near the town itself, in the vicinity of the pastures that are cultivated 

 by irrigation. They mate in September and October. " One evening," Mr. 

 Bishop writes, " I was attracted by a strange sound that I supposed pro- 

 ceeded from a frog, but it proved to be the lo\'e-note of a little Athene cuni- 

 eidaria, and which was answered by its mate. It alighted upon a post, and 

 commenced turning around upon it, with throat dilated, and emitting a gut- 

 tural sound. These antics were continued for more than a minute, it oc- 

 casionally bowing its head in a mysterious manner. The female soon after 

 joined it, and they hew away. Each night it perched upon a tall flagstaff 

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

 wliic:h were swampy, and over this a pair often hovered in searcii of food. 

 1 \\alclieil one that ke[)t (.)n the wing for nearly two hours, some fifty feet 

 from the ground, and during tliat time did not change its position in any 

 other \\a,y than by rising or falling a few feet. A boy brought me a female 

 with five eggs, that had been taken from a burrow five feet from the mouth. 

 The bird was very fierce, and fought me with her wings and beak, uttering 

 all the while a long shrill note, resembling a file drawn across the teeth of a 

 saw. I supplied her with eleven full-grown mice, which she devoured dur- 

 ing the first thii'ty-si.x; hours (if her confinement. It is said to place a small 

 nest of feathers at the end of the hole, in which are deposited five white 



The eggs of the var. eiinkuUtria are of a rouuLled-o\al shape, more obtuse 

 at one end than at the other, measure 1.30 inches in length by 1.05 in 

 breadth, and are of a uniform wiiite color, with a slightly bluish tinge. 



The egg of the A. liiipoyaia is of a rounded-oval shape, equally obtuse at 

 either end, and averages 1.35 inches in length by 1.13 in breadth, and is of 

 a uniform clear white color. This description is taken from an egg obtained 

 by Mr. E. S. Holden near Stockton in California. Captain Bendire writes 

 that he has found as many as nine, and once even ten, eggs in the nest of 

 the North American species. 



f/i NAT.SIZE. 



Sirix jirntincu'n (Sec p.igi' 10.) 



