﻿478 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. loo 



diurnal. Though it would eat birds, lizards, and other meat, it 

 never did so wdth the same relish as it did insects. It would eat any 

 insect of suflBcient size to allow it to be grasped, even foul-smelling 

 beetles. It was expert at catching moths in flight. Very large 

 grasshoppers appeared to be almost too strong for it, and they were 

 attacked only after some hesitation, even when the bird was fully 

 adult. While in the United States the collector had a saw-whet owl 

 (Cryptoglaux acadica) in captivity for many months. Though 

 only slightly larger, the saw-whet owl was much more powerful than 

 the present species. Like the saw-whet owl, it had the habit of 

 hiding what food it was unable to eat, returning later to finish the 

 meal, and like the saw- whet, it showed considerable annoyance if in 

 the meantime the hidden food had been removed, returning repeatedly 

 to search the spot and uttering its scolding note. 



As a fledgling the bird uttered a weak insectlike twitter. After a 

 month it gave also a fairly loud finchlilve cheeep when startled, espe- 

 cially just as it flushed. Early in September, about two months after 

 its capture, the young owl began to give the adult call, although a 

 little higher pitched than what it was to give later on. At this time 

 it was a regularly spaced chirp, chirp, chirp, with somewhat the 

 quality of a cork being rubbed on wet glass. In giving this call the 

 bird stood straight up, with wings and feathers pressed tightly against 

 the body. By December the call had assumed the adult sound, a 

 wup'Wup-wup, stUl with the corldike quality when heard close by. 

 Almost a year later, in May, the owl became very pugnacious, 

 fighting the collector's finger and even flying at him to strike his 

 head. At this time it would flutter its wings to make a drumming 

 sound and then utter a loud churrup, churrup, churrup. Often it 

 would give the ivup-wup call, repeated six to eight times, followed 

 by three or four churrups. This was the complete adult call, which 

 was heard at times throughout the year. In giving the wup note, 

 the owl customarily stands straight up, feathers compressed, ear 

 tufts slightly raised, throat distended, but bill barely open; for the 

 churrup the bird often bent over, with the feathers somewhat erected, 

 especially on the back. It occasionally clicked its bill. 



When approached by a cat or dog the captive owl would stand very 

 erect with the feathers very tightly pressed to the body and with 

 the ear tufts, which are normally not at aU apparent, greatly erected 

 and very conspicuous. 



The captive also enjoyed bathing, either flying back and forth 

 through the shower or in the wash basin, often soaking itself to the 

 point to where it could scarcely fly. It would then spend considerable 

 time preening, giving special attention to its feet. 



When flying the wing usually made a rather loud "thrupping" 

 sound, although the bird could fly silently, at least at low speeds. 



