CHECK LIST OF NORTU AMERICAN BIRDS. 



88 



480. Sumia funerea (L.) Rich. & Sw. B C2. c 326. u 407. 



American Hawk Owl. 



481. Surnia funerea ulula (L.) Ridg. B — . c — . u 407. (?) (!a.) 



Europcau Hawk Owl. 



482. Nyctala tengmalmi richardsoni (Bp.) Ridg. b 55. c 327. fi 400. 



Iliehardson's Owl. 



483. Nyctala acadica (Gm.) Bp. b so, 57. c 328. u 40i. 



Acadian Owl; Saw-whet Owl. 



484. Glaucidium gnoma Wagl. b co. c 329. R 409. 



Pygmy Owl. 



ill I 



480. Sur'-nl-a fu-n5'-rT-5. Surnia and Si/nuum are forms of tlio same word, the nioaninpr n"d 



derivation of which are alilve uiilcnown to us; we follow Newton in usiiij,' tlie former; 

 see Sund., Tent., p. 104. — Lat. fmicreiis, funereal ; from faiuis, a funeral, burial pro- 

 cession. Applieahle to an owl, either regarded as a bird of ill omen, or with refereneo lo 

 its dismal cry, as if wailini; the dead. 



This stands Siirnid uluUi htiilsuiiica in the orig. cd. Names of owls are " confusion 

 worse confounded." Sec Hid};. Pr. Nat. Mus., ii, 1880, p. 8. 



481. S. f. fil-iSl-a. Lat. i(/i//«, a I'linian name of tlie screech-owl; »/(//c), Gr. oAoAufoi, I howl, hal- 



loo, make a "huUaballoo"; all ononuitopa'ic. Compare also tlie Hebrew, ?;~, whence 

 lialttlii'jiiU. 



Not in the orig. ed. The old world Hawk Owl, at best hardly distinguishable from 



■' the American, is stilted to occur in Alaska as a straggler from Asia; mid all the Hawk 



' Owls of Great IJrilain are said to be of the American variety. Tlie case itself is as 



periile.xiiig as its nonieiiclature is involved. 



t 



482. Nyc'-ta-la teng'-mal-mi rlch'-ard-s6n-i. Gr. viJKTaAos or i/oa-raAos, drowsy, sleepy. See 



Nijctta, No. -179, for basis of the word. — To P. G. Tengmalm, a Swedish naturalist. — To 

 Sir John liichardson, the I'higlish naturalist. 



433. N. a-cad'-I-ca. To Acudia, or Acadie, a locale now in Maine, scene of Longfellow's 

 " Evangeline." 



484. GlaQ-cId'-I-Qm gno'-ma. There is a Greek word yXavKihiov, but that is some kind of fish, 

 pot a bird. It is, however, related to yKav^, which means an owl. There is also an 

 adjective -yAauKtiSj/s, from 7Aai;{ and tZSos, from which (jhinvitliniii may be modified. 

 The allusion in all tiiese cases is to the i-i/rs of the bird; if not in color, then in the 

 general aspect and expression of these remarkable organs of vision. There being actu- 

 ally no owls with liluc eyes, as y\avK6s, i/lniicus, is commonly translated, the direct impli- 

 cation is probably to the owl as the bird of wisdom, sacred to Minerva, 7AauKai7rir being 

 one of the most faiiiiliar llDiiieric e])ithcts of the "l)lueeycd" goddess. Such may 

 therefore be the meaning of ^Aaff, without reference to the color of the bird's own eyes. 

 — The word ijiiomu is very pat for an owl, and especially interesting in such apjilication. 

 Cir.yvaina,i • opinion, decision ; yviu/jirt, reason; 7i'(i|Uwi', a judge, arbiter; all from "yi^vuJo-Kui. 

 I know ; whence also (/""■«'"'• imd tlie very Knglisli word kiioiv, wiili countless relate<l 

 forms, all rooted in the idea of knowledge. Hence i,noma is apt for tlie bird of Minerva, 

 goddess of wisdom, and is given just as Alliene was made a similar epithet. Further- 

 more, the Knglish word iiiioiuc, by which wo may directly translate f/Ho»ia in this case, Is 

 from the same root, meaning etymologically " the knowing one," " one who arbi- 

 trates certain <lesliiiies " : by nietonyiny, a kind of sprite or elf presiding over mines. 

 (I'lwma is thus an eligilile epithet of a bini which combines a reputation for wisdom 

 with certain superstitions connected with the gnome-like or goblia-like quality of its 

 knowiiigness. 



