GLAUCIDIUM NANUM 35 



Durnford says : — " It is an Owl of diurnal liabits, being fond 

 of sitting on a thistle or clod of earth, whence it flies to seize 

 insects on the wing. Its flight is midulatory, and performed by 

 rapid strokes of the wings. . . . They have a curious and pretty 

 habit of rising almost perpendicularly from the stone or clod of 

 earth on which they have been perching, and toying or playing 

 with each other in the air. Their principal food is mice." 



The Ona name is " Kitep.^' 



GLAUCIDIUM NANUM (King) 



StriX nana, King, Zool. Joum., iii, p. 427, 1828. 



Athene nana, Somlron et Jacquinot, Voy. " Astrolabe " et " Zelee" 



iii, p. 54, Atl. pi. iv, 1853. 

 Glaucidium nanum, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., ii, p. 190, 1875 ; 



Sclater and Hudson, Argentine Orn., ii, p. 56, 1889 ; Oustalet, Miss. Sci. 



Cap Horn, Ois., p. 45, 1891. 



Habitat. — Chili, the Argentine Republic, and Uruguay, to Tierra del Fuego. 



? , Rio McClelland Setblement, 23rd Dec, 1904. 

 Iris — yellow ; bill and feet — greenish yellow. 



The Pigmy Owl was discovered by King in the Strait of 

 Magellan on the " Adventure " Survey in 1827 : his type of the 

 species is an inadult example, length 5f inches. 



This Owl has been obtained by the " Astrolabe " and " Zelee " 

 South Polar Expedition, 1837-1840 ; by Cunningham in the 

 " Nassau " ; by Coppinger in the " Alert " ; and by the French 

 Mission to Cape Horn. 



D'Orbigny, Darwin, and Durnford do not record it. 



In the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, the length 

 of the male is stated to be 8*0 inches, of the female 8'6 inches. 

 This female measures in length 7*5 inches. Since the Catalogue 

 of Birds was published, the series in the museum has increased 

 to thirty, where before there were six examples. On examining 



6 



