BIRDS — ATHENINAK — ATHENE nVPUG.T.A. 59 



Sub-Family ATHENINAE— T h e IJiicl Owls. 



Size small ; facial disc very imperfect, or nearly obsolete; tarsi generally partially or but 

 thinly covered with feathers ; head without ear tufts. The birds of this group are generally 

 smair, and are not so nocturnal in their liabits as those of the preceding divisions. 



ATHENE, Boie. 



.Ilhtne, Boie, Uis, 1822, p. 549. 

 Small ; head moderate, without ear tufts ; wings rather long ; tail rather short ; facial disc nearly obsoleto. Bill short ; legs 

 rather long, thinly covered with short feathers ; toes naked, or with a few hair-like feathers. This genus contains about forty 

 gpccics of small owls inhabiting all parts of the world. 



ATHENE HYPUGJ^A, Bonaparte. 



The Burrowing Owl. 



Sirix hypugan, Bonap. Am. Orn., 1, p. 72. (1825.) 

 .Ilhene socialis, G.\>ibel, Proc. Acad. Philada. Ill, p. 47. (1846.) 

 Figures. — Bonap. Am. Orn. I, pi. 7, fig. 2 ; Aud. B. of Am., pi. 432, fig. 1 : Oct. ed. 1, p. 31, (upper figure.) 



Tarsi long, slender, thinly covered in front only with short feathers, generally with its lower halfnearly bare, and frequently 

 almost entirely naked, and with small circular scales laterally and posteriorly ; toes with a few hairs. 



Jldull. — Upper parts light ashy brown, with numerous partially concealed circular, cordate, and ovate spots of (*ull white, 

 wh'ch spots are enclosed with a narrow edge of dark brown. Throat white ; a transverse band of dark brown and reddish 

 while on the neck in front, succeeded by a large patch of white ; breast light brown, with large spots of white, like the upper 

 parts ; abdomen yellowish, with transverse narrow bands of reddish brown ; under tail coverls, feathers of the tibia and tarsus, 

 and under wing coverts yellowish white. Quills I ght brown, with semi-circular spots of reddish white on their outer webs, 

 and with oval or irregular spots of the same on their inner webs. Tail light brown, with about five or six irregular transverse 

 bands of yellowish white. Bill dark blueish at base, yellow at tip and on the ridge of the upper mandible. This is the most 

 mature plumage, and is that represented in Audubon's figure cited above. The most usual plumage is, however, as follows : 



.Idull. — Upper parts like the preceding, but lighter colored, and much more tinged with dull yellow, having generally a faded 

 or bleached appearance. White spots more numerous and irregular in shape, and frequently giving the predominating color 

 to the head. Rump and tail strongly tinged with reddish. Under parts like the preceding, but lighter, and with the reddish 

 brown of the abdomen assuming the form of semi circular or hastate spots. This plumage has very nearly the same claracters 

 as the preceding, but is lighter and haa a faded appearance, and is much the most frequently met with in sj ecimens. This 

 plumage is not figured. 



Another plumage is : Upper parts much less tinged with yellow or reddish, being nearly light grayish brown; white spots 

 very irregular in shape. Abdomen nearly pure white, or tinged with yellowish, with traces only or but few spots of r«:ddish 

 brown. This plumage is given in Bonaparte's plate, cited above ; but it is unusual for the abdomen to be so nearly pure white 

 and unspotted as represented. 



Total length, female, (of skin,) about 91 inches, wing 7, tail 33 inches. Male, total length, about 9 inches, wing 6|, tail 

 3 inches. 



Hab. — From the Mississippi river to the Rocky mountains. Mexico. Spec, in Nat. Mus. Washington, and Mus. Acad. 

 Philadelphia. 



In this species the feathers on the tarsus are restricted to a narrow longitudinal band or stripe 

 in front, generally quite imperfect in the lower half, leaving that portion nearly bare to the 

 toes, though it is quite unusual to find the tarsus so entirely uncovered, as represented in 

 Audubon's figure cited above. This bird is rather smaller than the succeeding, and has the 

 tarsus shorter as well as much less feathered. It inhabits tlie countries east of the Rocky 

 mountains, while the next species appears to be formed exclusively west of the same range. 

 The two species are not difficult to distinguish, on comparison. 



