ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 



191 



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FERRUGIXOUS PIGMY OWL. 



GROUP XI. — PYGMY OWLS, Glaiicidiuiii. 



This group of tiny owls is unknown to us in the east, although, 

 as a genus, it is wide-spread, being represented in Europe and by 

 a number of species in Asia, Africa, and South America. The 

 Pygmy Owl, Glaiicidium gnoDia Wagl., inhabits the mountain 

 regions of the Rockies, from British Columbia south into ^Mexico, 

 while a darker sub-species lives in the humid coast region. 



Besides a form inhabiting Lower California, there is a southern 

 species, the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, G. phalacnoides (Daud.), 

 which reaches the southern border of the United States. This 

 is a most beautiful little owl, clothed in a varied pattern of white 

 and brilliant rufous. 



Although not strictly diurnal, yet these owls have so far deserted 

 the habits of their Order, that they fly about in the morning and 

 late afternoon, pursuing the grasshoppers and small mice upon 

 which they prey. 



The call-notes are said to be soft and musical and four eggs 

 are deposited in the deserted hole of a woodpecker. 



