FAMILY STRIGIDAE 1 73 



Veraguas (Sona, Calobre) ; Herrera (Parita, El Rincon) ; Los 

 Santos (Los Santos, Guanico Arriba) ; western Province of Panama 

 (Playa Coronado, Bejuco). 



A record for Santa Fe, Veraguas, is based on an ancient report by 

 Salvin (Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1867, p. 158) of a specimen now in 

 the British Museum, taken one hundred years ago by Enrique Arce. 

 Arce's specimens in most instances do not bear his original labels. 

 Instead they have been marked by Salvin or others, with localities pre- 

 sumably taken from correspondence with the collector. With the 

 present species it does not seem probable that the owl was secured 

 above the Tropical Zone, since that is its known range elsewhere. 

 The population of ridgwayi found in Panama, from present informa- 

 tion, appears to be isolated, since these birds have not been found in 

 Chiriqui, or on the Pacific slope of southwestern Costa Rica, south of 

 the Golfo de Nicoya. 



These small owls are heard frequently in the limited areas in 

 which they range, at times during the night, and regularly throughout 

 the day. The call is given with a slight pause after the first note, fol- 

 lowed by a slow repetition of the same sound three to six times. The 

 low, whistled tone is easily imitated and the bird often responds. They 

 are active in daytime, regardless of the height of the sun. Occasionally 

 my whistle has caused them to come out on open perches to look 

 about, perhaps through some reaction in guarding territory. Usually 

 they show little fear, even when close at hand, though they may be 

 resting on open branches. Their calling often attracts vireos, small 

 flycatchers, and other birds that flutter about and scold. On one such 

 occasion the owl paid no attention to them, but pitched at something 

 in the grass below, an insect or a lizard, and then flew away. The 

 stomach in most of those I have taken has been empty. Two had 

 eaten large cicadas. 



The black spots at the back of the head, a common marking in 

 pygmy owls, resemble eyes, so that in many places they are called 

 cuatro ojos — four eyes. In Costa Rica this species is known as the 

 mochuelo. 



SPEOTYTO CUNICULARIA HYPUGAEA (Bonaparte): 

 Burrowing Owl; Buhito de Hoyo 



Strix hypugaea Bonaparte, Amer. Orn., vol. 1, 1825, p. 72. (Plains of the Platte 

 River.) 



A small owl without feather horns that lives on the ground in open 

 prairie lands ; legs long and slender. 



