408 ZOOLOGY— BIKDS. 



aiduridivm iiifufudtum, Newb., P. K. R. Kep., vi, 1S57, 77. 



aiaucidiitm tjnvma, Bd., Hiids N. A., 185.S,CL'{notof Wagleu?).— Eeerm., P. It. K. Iloii., 



X, pt. ii, 189, o4.— Coop. & Suckl., P. R. R. Ri'p., xii, pt. ii, 18G0, 158.— 



CoUKS, ProL". Acad. Nat. Sci. Pbila., 1800, 50 (Fort WliippK-, Ariz.). 



This little owl is apparently quite common in Arizona and New Mexico. 



It does not appear to be at all a nocturnal species, but was observed to be 



most active in the early morning and late afternoon, and on one occasion 



was seen flying at broad noonday. Their notes are quite similar to those 



of the Mottled Owl {Scops maccaUi), by imitating which I succeeded in 



enticing one, step by step, till he finally sat on the top of a small oak within 



thirty feet, and scanned my person with evident astonishment, and, I could 



not help fancing, with an air of abused confidence. 



Among the pine woods of the White Mountains, Arizona, these owls 



appeared to be particularly numerous toward the latter part of October, and 



T had good reasons for believing that at this season they are quite gregarious. 



During a week's reconnaissance here, scarcely a camp was made but that at 



some period of the day the notes of this species could be heard, usually 



coming from some perch, hidden away in the tops of the lofty pines. These 



notes were most frequent at about nine in the morning, at which time they 



appeared to gather at some rendezvous, and then doze away the time till 



about four in the aftemoon, when they again became noisy, as they wakened 



up, and prepared tt) sally out for a fresh supply of provisions. When camped 



one morning in a little valley hemmed in on all sides by steep banks, clothed 



with pines, I estimated there must have been at least twenty of these 



diminutive owls within a radius of a quarter of a mile ; their calls to 



each other were incessant, and from all directions at once. I found no 



difficulty in imitating them, and in a few moments had one of the little 



fellows sitting in a high pine above my head, answering note for note, 



though how he got there I was puzzled to tell, as I certainly did not see him 



fly in. For full five minutes I strained my eyes, endeavoring to make 



out his form, but all in vain, until, perhaps having satisfied himself of the 



fraud, he flew out, when I obtained a shot at him. 



A young bird collected by Dr. C. G. Newbeiry is appreciably dif- 

 ferent from the adult. The entire plumage has more of a slaty tinge, while 

 the back and under parts are strongly suffused with rufous. The head above 



