142 



VERTEBRATES : BIRDS. 



pale reddish-brown. Its notes bear a strong resemblance 

 to the noise made in filing the teeth of a large saw. 



The Genus A thene Burrowing Owls is character- 

 ized by small size, rather long legs thinly covered with 

 short feathers, and nearly or quite naked toes. 



The Burrowing Owl, A. hypugcea, Bonap., is about nine 

 inches long, and is found from the Mississippi to the 

 Rocky Mountains. It lives in the holes of the Prairie 

 Dog. 



The Burrowing Owl, A. cunicularia, Bonap., is about 

 ten and a half inches long, and is found west of the 

 Rocky Mountains and in South America, 

 The Genus Glaucidium, Pygmy Owls. 

 The Pygmy Owl, G. gnoma, Cass., of Oregon and Cali- 

 fornia, is seven inches long, and the wing three inches and 

 three fourths, being the smallest owl in North America. 

 Fig. 93 . The Genus Nyc- 



tea comprises the 

 Snowy or White 

 Owl, Nyctea nivea, 

 Gray, of the north- 

 ern regions of both 

 continents, which 

 is twenty-four to 

 twenty-seven inch- 

 es long, the wing 

 sixteen to seven- 

 teen inches, and 

 the entire plumage 

 white, frequently 

 with spots or irreg- 

 ular bars of dark 

 brown. In winter 

 it wanders over a 



Snowy Owl, Nyctea nivea, Gray. great part of North 



