Vol. XIX 

 igo2 



] 



General Notes. 399 



them in mv portfolio. Of all the creatures I have ever sketched there 

 are none so absurdly comical in looks and action as -Voung Barn Owls, 

 and I can well understand the cause of the popular name of Monke^- 

 faced Owl' applied to these white-faced, beady-eyed young imps— Dan. 

 Beard, Flushing, N. T. 



V Nesting of the Hawaiian Owl {Asia accipUrinus sandvicensis) on Oahu, 

 H I -Although the Pueo, which was worshiped and feared as a god by 

 the ancient Hawaiians, has long been known to be a resident of the pnn- 

 cipal islands of the Hawaiian group - so long indeed that the hardsh p 

 and isolation which it has suffered has reduced '^^ :^!''\^''''\'^}^' ^ 

 size -I here append the first information on its edification which has 

 been recorded from this Territory. ,, .h^ 



On November 30, 190X, Dr. Geo. H. Huddy brought to me at the 

 Bishop Museum a very young owl which he informed me was one of our 

 he had secured from the nest, which was not far distant ^^^r. ^^sco.n^rj 

 home in Kalihi Valley on the Island of Oahu. The bird was al-e though 

 in a dving condition, when it was presented to the museurn, and little 

 time was 'lost in securing a photograph of his owl-sh p ^e-e he suc- 

 cumbed to the inevitable, for it seemed out of condition from the fi^st and 

 :;T with much difficulty induced to take food. The specimen (Museum 

 No X0213) was in the first downy plumage, the wing quills "ot hawng 

 bi'st the capsules. The eyes were a very light straw-yellow ; the bill and 



claws dark horn color. , , , • j f„ii„ 



The following dav the Doctor and his servant (who ^ad accidental y 

 discovered the nest" three or four days previous to our visit conducted 

 m to he spot where the young birds were secured. It was located in a 

 Tnul srass and fern-rown path running along the steep mountain side, 

 Z^IZZ f . on. the valley below, and approximately 800 feet above the 

 sea. No attempt at concealing the nest had been made- m act little 

 had been attempted in the line of nest making; it was simply a ^e 3 

 shallow platform, composed of the surrounding grasses, placed in a sligh 

 d pession and befouled with the regurgitated masses of hair and bon 

 o small rodents. The nest and such of the accessories as were available 

 °^rcarefullv removed and will form a part of a group in the museum, 

 fTr vh ch object my friend generously added two more of the three birds 

 whi h he was keeping as pets, reserving only the largest, strongest bud 

 o :him'ei;, which'he has had no trouble in bringing to its full growth on a 

 diet of beef, with a rat or mouse added from time to time by way of variety . 

 The popular notion among the natives seems to be that this owl nes s 

 in holes or caves in the cliffs, a belief which the foregoing does not bear 

 Tut The situation chosen by the parent birds in this -stance u.s an 

 adaptation of the local conditions to the habits and requirements of the 

 ImeH an Short-eared Owl. which is the undoubted progenitor of the 

 HTwaiian subspecies.-W.x. A.AXSOX B.vax, Blskop Museum, Honolulu, 

 H. I. 



