vI STRIGIDAE 407 
with continued cries, which summon its mate, if near; at other 
times little noise is made, though this species is unusually diurnal. 
If quartering the flats for food its flight is sufficiently powerful ; 
but if suddenly flushed it is wavering or zig-zag, as is well seen in 
autumn, when the bird is named “ Woodeock-Owl” in Britain, 
from its arriving at the same time as Woodcocks. 
Micrathene whitneyr, of the South-Western United States and 
Mexico, is grey, mottled with brown and a little rufous; the 
lower parts being whiter, and some white also shewing on the 
nape, wing-coverts, and throat. It breeds in holes in cacti and 
the like. The genus Glaucidium, or Pigmy-Owl, comprises some 
twenty members, distributed over most of the globe, except the 
Austrahan Region, while one inhabits Europe. The coloration is 
blackish- or ashy-brown, greyish, or rufous; browner and redder 
phases often occurring in the same species. The upper parts 
exhibit the usual dark mottlngs, and yellowish or white mark- 
ings; the under surface is lighter; a whitish collar sometimes 
occurs above, or a dusky gorget below. The facial discs are 
rather imperfect, the toes may be thickly feathered or only hairy. 
The habits of G. passerinum of Northern and Central Europe are 
apparently representative of these forms, which are, according to 
circumstances, shy or fearless, though strong and rapacious for their 
size; they capture birds bigger than themselves, bats, rodents, moths, 
and large insects generally. By preference arboreal, and denizens 
of hilly woodlands, gardens, and orchards, they doze in trees during 
the day; yet they are not entirely nocturnal, and may be seen 
after sunrise pursuing their prey with rapid, jerky flight, very 
different to that of the more slowly-flapping crepuscular species. 
The note varies from a loud clear whistle to a short hissing or 
longer gurgling sound; the three to five roundish eggs are laid 
in hollow trees. The largest form, G. cuculoides, found from the 
Himalayas to Siam, does not attain twelve inches (G. whitelyi of 
China and Japan being barely separable), while G. cobanense of 
Guatemala is only five inches long, and is the smallest Owl 
known. @. radiatum inhabits India, G. brodiei the Himalayas, 
G. castanonotum Ceylon, G. sylvaticum Sumatra, G. castanopterum 
Java, G. pardalotum Formosa, G. perlatum most of the Ethiopian 
Region, G. capense South Africa; G. gnoma ranges from British 
Columbia to Guatemala, G. ferow (with its races) from Texas to 
Bolivia and Brazil; G. siju oceupies Cuba, G. jardinii New 
