Tengmalm's, Richardson's, and Saw-whet Owls 533 



The third genus mentioned as belonging to this group is Ciccaba, which 

 includes eight species of medium-sized Owls inhabiting mainly Central America 

 and northern South America, but ranging from Mexico to Brazil and Ecuador. 



The last of the five or six groups into which the Bubonina is divided (the 

 CryptoglaucincR] includes some nine or ten genera and upward of sixty species; 

 nearly all are birds of small size, among them being the smallest of the entire 

 suborder. The typical genus may be regarded as Cryptoglaux, since it serves 

 as the basis of the group name; it embraces three forms. They are small 

 Owls, under twelve inches in length, with a relatively large head devoid of ear- 

 tufts, and extremely short cere and the bony tube of the ear markedly unsym- 

 metrical on the two sides of the head; the tail is relatively short and the wings 

 long and rounded ; the toes are completely feathered. In the adults the plumage 

 is brown above, more or less spotted with white, while the lower parts are white, 

 broadly striped with brown. 



Tengmalm's and Richardson's Owls. The oldest known species is Teng- 

 malm's Owl (C. tengmalmi] of north and central Europe and northern Asia, a 

 bird from eight and a half to ten inches long, which may be distinguished from 

 the American representative by its paler color and whitish, usually unspotted 

 legs. It is strictly nocturnal in its habits, frequenting the forests throughout 

 its range, and feeding on small mammals, birds, and insects, especially beetles. 

 It nests in hollow trees, depositing on the chips and rotten wood at the base of 

 the cavity from five to seven pure white, fine-grained eggs. Its note is said to 

 be a single melancholy call uttered at short intervals throughout the night. 

 Taking its place in northern North America is a darker-colored race known 

 as Richardson's Owl (C. t. richardsoni). It is a strictly boreal bird, ranging 

 from the northern limit of trees southward to the northern United States, and 

 like its relative is purely nocturnal, spending the day in the seclusion offered 

 by the thick foliage of trees and bushes. Where there are trees of suitable size 

 it nests in old Woodpeckers' holes or natural cavities, but where there are only 

 bushes it takes possession of the abundant nests of other birds. Its call, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Merriam, is "alow, liquid note that resembles the sound produced 

 by water slowly dripping from a height." 



Saw-whet or Acadian Owl. The other species is the Saw- whet or Acadian 

 Owl (C. acadica}, a handsome little bird between seven and a quarter and nine 

 inches in length, found in temperate Canada and northern United States, but 

 extending southward in the western mountains through Mexico to the high 

 mountains of Guatemala. In color it is brown more or less spotted with white 

 above, and white striped with reddish brown below. It is a gentle, engaging 

 little Owl, strictly nocturnal in its habits, spending the day in some dark recess 

 and issuing forth at dusk. Although it is not migratory in the usual sense of 

 the word, it appears to wander more or less in winter, apparently in search of 

 food, and may suddenly become abundant in a locality only to disappear 

 again, perhaps for several years. During the winter it is not uncommonly 

 observed in barns, the writer once having seen several in an old hay barn in 

 Vermont. At such times it is easily approached and may sometimes be taken 



