NYCTALE ACADICA, ACADIAN OWL. 315 



pally insects, although mice and the smallest birds are also captured. 

 The egg of the present bird is colorless, like that of other Owls, and 

 measures IJ inches ia length by 1 inch in breadth. 



''^''^ NYCTALE AOADIGA, (Gm.) Bp.* 



Acadian or Saw-whet Owl. 



Strix acadica, Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 296.— Daud., Tr. Om. ii, 1800, 206.— Vieiix., Ois. 

 Am. Sept. i, 1807, 49.— Bp., Sya. 1828, 38; Isis, 1832, 1140.— Sw. & Rich., F. B. 

 A. ii, 1831, 97.— Jard., ed. Wils. ii, 66.— NuTT., Man. i, 1832, 137.— AUD.. Oru. 

 Bios- ii, 1834, 567; v, 1839, 397; pi. 199.— Peab., Eep. Oru. Mass. 1839, 70.— 

 DisKay, N. Y. Zool. 1844, pi. 11, fig. 23. 



Ntjctale acadica, Bp., Comp. List, 1838, 7 ; Cousp. Av. i, 1850, 44,— Ghay, Gen. of B. 1844, 

 App. p. 3.— Kaup, Tr. Zool. Soc. iv, '206.— Strickl., Om. Syu. i, 1855, 176.— 

 Newb., p. E. E. Eep. vi, 1857, 77.— Cas.'^., 111. 1854, 186.— Brew., N. A. Ool. 

 1857, 74.— SCL., P. Z. S. 1858, 295 (Oaxaca).— Cass., B. N. A. 1858, 58.— Coop. 

 & SucKL., N. H. Wash. Ter. 1860, 156.— Wheat., Ohio Agric. Rep. 1860, No. 

 27.— CouES & Prent., Smiths. Rep. 1861, 402.— Boardm., Pr. Bost. Soc. ix, 1862, 

 123 (Maine, resident).— Verr., Pr. Ess. Inst, iii, 1862, 144 (Maine, resident).— 

 Allen, ihid. iv, 1864, 52 (Massachusetts, resident).- McIlw'r., iUd. v, 1866, 82 

 (Canada West).— Codes, ihid. v, 1868, 260.— Coues, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 50 

 (Arizona).— Coues, Pr. Bost. Soc. xii, 1868, 119 (South Carolina).— Lawr., Ann. 

 Lye. N. Y. viii, 1866, 2«1 (New York).— Tdrnb., B. East Pa. 1869, 9 (rare, 

 chiefly in winter).- Lord, Pr. Roy. Arty. Inst. 1864 (British Columbia).— 

 Coop., B. Cal. i, 1870, 436.— Snow, B. Kans. 1873, 2.— Ridgw., Am. Nat. vi, 1872, 

 284 (critical).— Hart., Brit. Birds, 1872, 95 (England, very doubtfully; quotes 

 MiLN., Zool. 1860, 8104).— Coues, Key, 1872, 205.— Allen, Am. Nat. vii, 1873, 

 427.— B. B. & R., N. A. B. iii, 1874, 43.— RiDGW., Ann. Lye. s, 1874, 378 (Illinois). 



Nyctala acadica, Gray, Hand-list, i, 1869, 51, No. 556. 



Scotophilus acadicus, Sw., Classif. B. ii, 1837, 217. 



Noctua acadica, Rich., 1837. 



Ulula acadica, AuD., Syn. 1839, 24 ; B. Am. i, 1840, 123, pi. 33.— Putn., Pr. Ess. Inst, i, 

 1856, 204 (Massachusetts).— Schlegel, M. P.-B., 1862. Strigas, p. 8. 



(•i) Strix passcrina, Forst., Phil. Trans. Ixii, 1772, 385 (Pbnn., Arct. Zool. 1785, 236).— 

 Wils., Am. Orn. iv, 1812, 66, pi. 34, f. 1. 



Strix acadiemis, Lath., Ind. Oru. i, 1790, 65 (Syn. pi. 5, f. 2).— Shaw, G. Z. vii, 266. 



Strix albifrons, Shaw, Nat. Misc. v, 1794, pi. 171 ; Gen. Zool. vii, 1809, 238.— Lath., Ind. 

 Orn. Suppl. 14. 



Buho albifro7is, Vieill., Ois. Am. Sept. i, 1807, 54. 



Scops albifrons, Steph., Shaw's Gen. Zool. xiii, pt. ii, 1826, 51. 



Nyctale albifrons, Cass., 111. 1854, 187.— Cass., B. N. A. 1858, 57.— Coites, Pr. Phila. Acad. 

 1866, 50.— McIlwr., Pr. Ess. Inst, vi, 1866, 82 (Canada).— CoOP., B. Cal. i, 1870, 

 43.5.^Verr., Am. Nat. 1871, 119 (Maine). 



KyciaJa albifrons, Gray, Hand-list, i, 1869, 52, No. 557. 



Strix frontalis. Light., Abhandl. Akad. Berol. 1838, 430. 



Nycldle Icirtlandii, Hoy, Pr. Phila. Acad, vi, 1852, 210.— Cass., 111. 1853, 63, pi. 11. 



Strix xihakmoidi's, Dadd., Tr. Oru. ii, 1300, 206. — Lath., Ind.. Oru. Suppl. 16. — Vieill., 

 Ois. Am. Sept. i, 1807, pi. 15.— Shaw, G. Z. vii, 1809, 268. 



Athene phalwnoides. Gray, Gen. of B. fol. 1844, sp. 43. 



Athene wilsoni, Boie, Isis, 1828, 315. 



"Strix dalhousei, Hall, Ms., Macg. ed. Cuv. E. A. 1829, pi. 8." 



Sab. — Temperate North America, from Atlantic to Pacific ; chiefly, however, Northern - 

 United States and adjoining British territory ; ranging southward, in wooded mount- ^ •; / 

 ainous regions, into Mexico. Oaxaca (Scl., P. Z. S. 1856, 295). 



Having been long aware that the so-called "White-fronted Owl," Strix albifrons, 

 S. frontalis, and N. Icirtlandii, of various authors, was simply the young of the present 

 species, I was pleased to see the case so clearly set forth as it was in Mr. Ridgway's 

 article above quoted — a paper instigated by Mr. Elliot's late erroneous identification 

 of these names as pertaining to the young of N. tengmalmi. In both species of Nyctale, 

 the plumage is mucli the same, and its changes are entirely correspondent. The young 

 have the_disc dark brown, contrasted with white superc'lia, the forehead plain, and 

 the under parts unvariegated, fading from a dark brown on the breast to ochrey-brown 

 on the belly. In the adults the disc is mostly white, the forehead is sharply streaked, 

 and the under parts are white, with lengthwise chocolate-brown markings. Specific 

 characters of the two birds are perceived in the greatly inferior size of acadica, a 

 different relative length of wings and tail, a difference in the cere and nostrjls, and 

 the black instead of yellow bill. 



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