HOSKIN'S PYGMY OWL. 409 



obtained in the same locality June 2 and 4, respectively. Mr. Walter E. 

 Bryant took another male near Comondu, Lower California, March 22, 1889. 



Nothing is as yet known about the breeding habits and eggs of this new 

 subspecies, but there is no reason to believe that they differ in any respect 

 from those of the two preceding geographical races. 



145. Glaucidium phalaenoides (DAUDAIN). 



FERRUGINOUS PYGMY OWL. 



Strix phalcenoides DAUDAIN, Traitd d'Ornithologie, n, 1800, 206. 

 Glaucidium phalcenoides CABANIS, Journal fur Ornithologie, 1869, 208. 



(B , C 330, R 410, C 485, U 380.) 



GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE : Whole of tropical America (except West Indes) ; north 

 to southwestern border of the United States (southern Texas to Arizona). 



The Ferruginous Pygmy Owl is a resident of the southern border of the 

 United States, breeding in the valley of the Lower Rio Grande in Texas, and 

 in southern Arizona. It doubtless occurs in the intervening regions as well. 



Mr. Greorge B. Sennett found it not uncommon at Lomita, Texas, and says: 

 "From its small size it is not readily seen in heavy timber. Its note, a clear 

 whistle, quite difficult to follow, was often heard during April and May. A 

 female captured April 9 contained eggs nearly ready to be laid." 



I am able to add but little more relating to the life history of this Owl than 

 what I have already published in the Auk (Vol. v, No. 4, October, 1888, 

 pp. 371, 372), which is here appended, as follows: "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 

 northward 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 1872 in the heavy mesquite thickets bordering Rillitto 

 Creek, near the present site of Camp Lowell, in the vicinity of Tucson, Arizona. 

 The first specimen was taken January 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 then an adept in taxidermy; the 

 skins made by me in those days looked as if they had passed through the jaws 

 of a hungry coyote, and they were only useful in determining species. Like 

 Glaucidium gnoma, this little Owl is quite diurnal in its habits. Its call, according 

 to my own notes, is 'chu, chu, chu,' a number of times repeated, and most fre- 

 quently heard in the evening. According to Mr. F. Stephens, its note is a loud 

 'cuck,' repeated several times as rapidly as twice each second. He further states 

 that at each utterance the bird jerked its tail and threw back its head. Occasion- 

 ally a low 'chuck,' audible for only a short distance, replaced the usual call. Mr. 

 Stephens's notes come perhaps nearer the mark than my own; I know him to 

 be an exceedingly careful, conscientious, and reliable observer. According to 



