88 



NORTH AMEIUCAN BIRDS. 



liist bc'lnp; scarcely distinguislialjlc ; on the longest t[uill eijrht CJin bo (letcctod. Wing- 

 fonnula, 4, 3 = ') -2, 0, 7, 8, 9 - 1. Length, "0.2.')"; extent, "irj.2r»"; winjr, 4.10: 

 tail, 2..'j() ; culnien, ..!.") ; tarsus, .80 ; middle tne, .00. 



A male IVoni .Socorm Island (4!),(i7^', Colonel A. J. Grayson) is less acltilt 

 than the ])receilin<3'. Tlie iipiier i)luniage is more brownish and more mot- 

 tled ; tlie rufous si)ots, though deejier and larger, are less sliari)ly defined ; 

 tiie spots on the primaries are all oehraceous; the bands on the tail are 

 broader, tliough of tlie same nund)er. Beneatli the longitudinal blotches 

 do not appear, but the rusty rufous covers nearly the whole surface, leav- 

 ing the medial jjortion only white, and tins not well defined ; the rusty 

 shows ragged minute transverse bars of blackish. The whitish collar round 

 the nape is also better defined than in the type. ^Ving, 4.20 ; tail, 2.10. 

 Wing-fornuda, 4, o = 5 - G, 2 - 7, 8, 9, 10, 1. Length, 5.20 ; extent, 14.25. 



Another sjiecimen, 50,705, from the same locality, also apparently imma- 

 ture, is just like the preceding in plumage. It measures, wing, 4.00 ; tail, 1.00. 

 Haihts. The type specimen of this diminutive species was shot at 

 Fort Mohave, in the Colorado Valley, latitude 35°, April 20, 1801, and two 



otl.ers have since been taken on the 

 Socorro Islands, off the western coast of 

 jMe-\ico, by Colonel Grayson. It is smaller 

 even tlian the little California Pygmy 

 Owl, and is therefore the smallest known 

 to inhabit North America. It resembles 

 that species in its colors, but is thought 

 by Dr. Cooper to be more simil r to tlie 

 burrowing Owls in its generic characters. 

 It was found in a dense thicket, on a 

 very windy morning, and where it may 

 have taken only a temporary refuge, af- 

 ter liaving been blown down from some 

 of the caverns in the barren mountains 

 surrounding the valley. In its stomach 

 were found the remains of insects and 

 the feathers of small birds. Several specimens of this Owl were taken in 

 Arizona by Captain Eendire, one of which is now in the collection of the 

 Boston Society of Natural History. Captain Bendire also found one of their 

 nests, with two fully fledged young ones, in a hole of a mesijuite stump. 



Mirral/ienf lchitiiet/i. 



Genus SPEOTYTO, Gloger. 



Sprn/i/fn, '• Pii.onFl!, 1842." (T;-))!', Strir ciinicularii/, MoL.) 

 " Plio/,iijthiii.i; Kaii', 1848." (Samr type.) 



Gen. Cii.vn. Size small ; head .small, and without eai-tuft.s. Bill moderately strong, 

 pale yellowish. Tarsi more than twice as long a.s the middle toe, fealiiercHl in front, 



