ACADIAN OWL— SAW-WHET OWL— LITTLE OWL. 133 



number of records of its occurrence in Newfoundland. My own 

 collections show it to be of frequent occurrence through the 

 counties of Hastings, Addington, Frontenac, Lanark and Renfrew 

 in the Province of Ontario ; in the region to the northward of 

 the Ottawa river, along the valleys of the Gatineau, Lievre, and 

 Rouge rivers ; throughout the District of Montreal ; and in the 

 Eastern townships — in the mountainous region bordering on the 

 State of New York. In all these sections of country it undoubt- 

 edly breeds ; but, strange to say, its nest and eggs were not found 

 by us on any of our expeditions, nor have I yet met with one 

 person who has been more fortunate in this respect. So small, 

 however, is this bird, and so nocturnal is it in its habits, that I 

 can readily conceive of its being abundant and perhaps breeding 

 in our midst without our being cognizant of the fact. The eggs 

 are said to be pure white, subspherical, and of crystalline clearness. 

 They measure lyi inches by i J^ inches. 



The food of this interesting little Owl consists almost entirely 

 of insects, and it is very fond of some of the large moths which are 

 on the wing during the twilight. It is to some extent a resident 

 species in Canada, and as its plumage is evidently designed to fit 

 it for extreme cold, it is probable that numbers remain throughout 

 the winter in the fur countries. According to Dr. Gilpin it is 

 common and breeds in Nova Scotia. Reeks also describes it as 

 common in Newfoundland. 



The little tawny Owl occasionally met with in Canada of 

 about the same size as the Acadian Owl, and pretty general known 

 as Kirdand's Owl, is now considered by good authorities to be 

 simply the young or immature form of that first mentioned ; but 

 so rarely does it occur, and so few have been the specimens at 

 at our disposal for study and comparison, that I do not think the 

 question is yet satisfactorily determined. If this tawny form is 

 in truth the young of the Acadian or Saw-whet Owl, it is another 

 of those puzzling instances in which, while the mature birds are 

 plentilul, the young and immature are but rarely met with. We 

 have already seen a parallel to this in the case of the red and gray 



