178 Mr. Ambrose A. Lane — Field-Notes 



found abroad in the daytime, and the light does not seem to 

 affect it so much as it does the larger Owls. 



The note is to be heard at all hours ; it is a " to-whit- 

 to-whi " rather softly uttered, and expressed by the Germans 

 as " wie gehfs, wie yeht's." I had a pair of them alive for some 

 time ; they were brought me when young but full-grown. They 

 never got tame, and on being approached threw themselves 

 into the furthest corner of the cage, puffing and snapping their 

 bills, whilst their big eyes were glaring and distended to the 

 fullest. If the hand was put forward they rolled on their 

 backs and made fight with beaks and claws. I did not know 

 at the time that they killed small birds, so when I got them 

 at first I put them along with some other birds, but I soon 

 found them out. The first thing I discovered was that a little 

 Thinacorus rumicivorus, which I had kept under difficulties 

 for a long time, had had its head eaten off in the night by 

 these Chunchus ; they also made onslaught on some young 

 Thrushes. I then kept them about a month alone in a box 

 and fed them on bits of meat, but one died ; and as I thought 

 the box was too severe confinement, I tied the other by the 

 leg in a garden where I had some hawks. Here, although 

 the little Chunchu proved able to defend itself from dogs, 

 cats, and rats, it was accidentally crushed to death. However, 

 it had never got much tamer, and was always ducking its large 

 head from side to side and peering about, as if seeking a way 

 of escape. 



53. SpEOTYTO CUNICULARIA (Mol.) . 



Speotyto cunicularia, Sharpe, B. M. C. ii. p. 142; Scl. 

 P. Z. S. 1891, p. 135. 



(Hacienda Mansel.) 



This is a widely distributed species ; it occurs throughout 

 Northern Chili wherever the locality is suitable, and is 

 plentiful through the central provinces as far south as Arauco, 

 below which I did not hear of it. 



In the province of Tarapacd, it occurs in oases and in the 

 desert immediately surrounding them. In such localities it 

 is known as the '^Cau-cauhuc"; in Chili proper it is called 

 the " Piquen.'' 



