!h; 



NOUTII AMKKICAN UUlbfi. 



ered with low tliorii-trees, ami over tliis wasto a l\>\v Owls arc i'ouiul, jirinci- 

 pally near tlio town itsell". in tliu vicinity of tiiis pastures that are cii'ltivatod 

 liy irn'j-atioii. Tlioy inato in Si'iitemlior and Octoltor. " One cvenin-'," Mr. 

 J'.isiiop writes, " I was attracted l.y a strange sound that I supposed pro- 

 (^•eded iVoni a i'n.n-, l)ut it proved to lie the love-note of a little AtJinir riiiii- 

 ciilario, and which was answered l.y ita mate. It ali.L,dited upon a post, and 

 coninience.l turniii,!,' around upon it, with throat dilated, and eniittin-,' a'-,ait- 

 tural sound. These antics were continued for more than a minute, it oc- 

 casionally howin- its head in a mysterious manner. The female .soon aft(!r 

 .joined it, and they tlew away. Each Mi,u;ht it perched upon a tall tlngstaff 

 and uttered its love-note. Close hy the house was a lagoon, the borders of 

 which were swami.y, and over this a ].air olten hovered in search of food. 

 T watched one that kept on the wing lor nearly two hours, some fifty feet 

 from the ground, and (hiving that time did not change its position in any 

 other way than hy rising or falling a few feet. A hoy brought me a female 

 with five eggs, that had been taken from a burrow five feet from the mouth. 

 The bird was very fierce, and fought me with her wings and beak, uttering 

 all the while a long shrill note, resembling a file drawn across the teeth of a 

 saw. I sup]>lied her with eleven full-grown mice, which she devoured dur- 

 ing the first thirty-si.x hours of her conKnenient. It is .said to place a small 

 nest of feathers at the end of the hole, in which are deiiosited five white 

 egj,'s." 



The egg.s of the var. nniindariit are of a rounded-oval shape, more obtuse 

 at one end than at the <.ther, measure 1.30 inches in length by 1.05 in 

 breadth, and are of a uniform white color, with a slightly blui.sh tinge. 



The egg of the A. /ii/pvrjmi is of a rounded-oval shape, eipially obtuse at 

 either end, and averages l.:]r, indies in length by 1.13 in breadth, and is of 

 a uniform clear white color. This description is taken from an egg obtained 

 by ]\Ir. E. S. Holden near Stockton in Calilbrnia. Captain Bendirc writes 

 that he has I'ound as many as nine, and once even ten, eggs in the nest of 

 the North American species. 



(i,' f/l NAT.SIZE. 



iSVi/j iiruliiiaia (Soo ikijju 10.) 



