i888.] Bendire 071 the Habits of Glancidium. -2^1 



it was not touched yet. The cavity was almost entirely filled 

 up by the contents mentioned. 



Judging from these accounts, the only I'eliable ones I know of, 

 it would appear that the Pygmy is one of the latest of the Owl 

 tribe to begin nidification, and it is not at all probable that more 

 than one brood is raised in a season, or that in both the instances 

 mentioned the first set of eggs had been destroyed. The young 

 Owlets, two of which I kept alive for several days, made a kind 

 of chirping noise like a cricket. The number of eggs to a set is 

 probably never more than four. 



Glaucidium phalaenoides Daud. Ferruginous Pygmy 

 Owl. — This widely distributed species was first described by 

 Prince Max z. Wied in 1820. It inhabits the whole of tropical 

 America (the West Indies excepted), and is found to the north- 

 ward, along the southwestern border of the United States, 

 occurring in southern Texas and Arizona. It was first added 

 to our fauna by the writer, who took several in the heavy 

 mesquite thickets bordering Rillitto Creek, near the present site 

 of Camp Lowell, in the vicinity of Tucson, Arizona, in 1S72. 

 The first specimen was taken Jan. 24, 1872, showing that it is a 

 resident throughout the year ; other specimens were obtained 

 during the following spring and summer. Unfortunately I was 

 not an adept in taxidermy then ; the skins made by me in those 

 days looked as if they had passed through the jaws of a hun- 

 gry coyote, and they were onl}' useful in determining species. 

 Like G. gnoma^ this little Owl is quite diurnal in its habits. Its 

 call, according to my own notes, is 'c//?/, chu^ c/izi,^ a number 

 of times repeated, and is most frequently heard in the evening. 

 According to Mr. F. Stephens, its note is a loud '•czick'' 

 repeated several times as rapidly as twice each second. He fur- 

 ther states that at each utterance the bird jerked his tail and 

 threw back his head. Occasionally a low chuck, audible for 

 only a short distance, replaced the usual call. Mr. Stephens's 

 notes, come perhaps nearer the mark than my ow^n ; I know him 

 to be an exceedingly careful, conscientious, and reliable ob- 

 server. According to Prince Max z. Wied in Burmeister's 

 'Thiere Brasiliens,' Vol. II, 1856, p. 143, its call is said to be 

 ' keck, keck, keck.' 



The best account of the life history of this little Owl, is found 

 in the 'Journal fur Ornithologie,' Vol. XVII, 1S69, pp. 244, 245, 



