536 The Roller-like Birds 



the evening, often before sunset, always long before dark, when it issues forth 

 from its hiding-place to perch on a pole or fence or telegraph-wire." The eggs, 

 from three to five in number, are placed in holes in trees, a building, or a cleft 

 in a rock. An allied species (.4. pulchra) occurs in the Burmese provinces. 



Forest Owlet. Very closely related is the Forest Owlet (Heteroglaux ble- 

 ivitti) of the thick forests of central India, which by some is included in the last 

 genus, and at best only differs in having a slightly more rounded wing and the 

 opening of the nostril a little nearer the front margin of the cere. In coloration 

 it is quite similar to the Spotted Owlet, except that the white spots are less dis- 

 tinct; it is a rare bird, and little is known of its habits. 



Burrowing Owls. Within the limits of the group of Owls there are perhaps 

 none having more curious and interesting habits than the little Burrowing Owls 

 (Speotyto\ of which some eight or ten forms are distinguished. They may be 

 known at once by their small size, none exceeding eleven inches in length, their 

 relatively long legs, mainly diurnal habits, and predilection for underground 

 burrows; all are natives of the New World. They have a rather small flat head, 

 short bill, and rather poorly defined facial disk, while the wings are compara- 

 tively short and incapable of a long-sustained flight. In color, the plumage is a 

 sandy brownish, spotted, barred, and sometimes otherwise varied with white 

 or buffy above, the lower parts being white or buffy broadly barred, or trans- 

 versely spotted, with brown; there is also a collar of mixed brown and buffy 

 across the throat, and the middle of the chest is plain white. 



Judging from their present distribution the Burrowing Owls are of quite 

 ancient origin, since they are found in southern South America, several of the 

 West Indian Islands, Florida, and the plains region of western North America 

 from British Columbia to Guatemala, the respective habitats being often sepa- 

 rated by many hundreds of miles. By the accident of discovery the typical form 

 is assumed to be the South American Burrowing Owl (S. cunimlaria] which 

 everywhere inhabits the open pampas region of the Argentine Republic, Chile, 

 Paraguay, and probably southern Brazil. Of its appearance in Buenos Ayres 

 Mr. Hudson says : " It never affects concealment nor appears confused by diurnal 

 sounds and the glare of noon. It stares fixedly at a passer-by, following him 

 with the eyes, the round head turning about as on a pivot. If closely approached, 

 it drops its body or bobs in a curious fashion, emitting a brief scream, followed 

 by three abrupt ejaculations; and if made to fly, goes only fifteen or twenty 

 yards away, and alights again with face toward the intruder; and no sooner 

 does it alight than it repeats the odd gesture and scream, standing stiff and 

 erect, and appearing beyond measure astonished at the intrusion." As the 

 North American form will be more fully described, no more will be said of this 

 beyond the fact that, according to Hudson, nine tenths of the Owls on the pam- 

 pas make their own nesting burrows, the remainder making use of the forsaken 

 holes of various mammals. 



Formerly considered as identical with the South American species, the western 

 North American bird is now regarded as constituting a well-marked geographical 

 race (5. c. hypogaa). Shunning the timbered and mountainous portions of this 



