vi STRIGIUAE 407 



with continued cries, which summon its mate, if near ; at other 

 times little noise is made, though this species is unusually diurnal. 

 If quartering the flats for food its flight is sufficiently powerful ; 

 but if suddenly flushed it is wavering or zig-zag, as is well seen in 

 autumn, when the bird is named " Woodcock-Owl " in Britain, 

 from its arriving at the same time as Woodcocks. 



Micrathene wliitneyi, of the South-Western United States and 

 Mexico, is grey, mottled with brown and a little rufous ; the 

 lower parts being whiter, and some white also shewing on the 

 nape, wing-coverts, and throat. It breeds in holes in cacti and 

 the like. The genus Glaucidium, or Pigmy-Owl, comprises some 

 twenty members, distributed over most of the globe, except the 

 Australian Region, while one inhabits Europe. The coloration is 

 blackish- or ashy-brown, greyish, or rufous ; browner and redder 

 phases often occurring in the same species. The upper parts 

 exhibit the usual dark mottlings, and yellowish or white mark- 

 ings ; the under surface is lighter ; a whitish collar sometimes 

 occurs above, or a dusky gorget below. The facial discs are 

 rather imperfect, the toes may be thickly feathered or only hairy. 

 The habits of G. passerimim of Northern and Central Europe are 

 apparently representative of these forms, which are, according to 

 circumstances, shy or fearless, though strong and rapacious for their 

 size; they capture birds bigger than themselves, bats, rodents, moths, 

 and large insects generally. By preference arboreal, and denizens 

 of hilly woodlands, gardens, and orchards, they doze in trees during 

 the day ; yet they are not entirely nocturnal, and may be seen 

 after sunrise pursuing their prey with rapid, jerky flight, very 

 different to that of the more slowly- flapping crepuscular species. 

 The note varies from a loud clear whistle to a short hissing or 

 longer gurgling sound ; the three to five roundish eggs are laid 

 in hollow trees. The largest form, G. cuculoides, found from the 

 Himalayas to Siam, does not attain twelve inches (G. wliitelyi of 

 China and Japan being barely separable), while G. cobanense of 

 Guatemala is only five inches long, and is the smallest Owl 

 known. G. radiatum inhabits India, G. Irodiei the Himalayas, 

 G. castanonotum Ceylon, G. sylvaticum Sumatra, G. castanopterum 

 Java, G. pardalotum Formosa, G. perlatum most of the Ethiopian 

 Eegion, G. capense South Africa ; G. gnoma ranges from British 

 Columbia to Guatemala, G. ferox (with its races) from Texas to 

 Bolivia and Brazil ; G. siju occupies Cuba, G. jardinii New 



