198 



THE HAWKS AND OWLS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



It is tame and unsuspicious and may be decoyed from a considerable 

 distance by imitating its call note, to which it responds at once. It is 

 confined mostly to wooded districts, though occasionally it is found 

 some distance from timber. It hides in the pines or other thick foliage, 

 where it sits upright near the trunk and is practically invisible to the 

 observer. 



The flight is not very much like that of other Owls, but resembles that 

 of the Sparrow Hawk to some extent, and is not altogether noiseless. 

 The love notes, according to Capt. Bendire, are somewhat musical, 

 although they resemble to some extent those of the mourning dove. 



As a rule the small birds pay little or no attention to the presence of 

 this diminutive Owl, as they do to other species, but the following note 

 from Mr. 0. A. Allen shows the rule has exceptions : " There were fight- 

 ing the Owl one pair of Tyrannus verticalis, one pair of Bullock's Orioles, 

 one pair of Bewick's Wrens, three Banded Tits (Ohamceafasciata),oue 

 pair of Pipilo oregonus, one pair of P. crissalis, and about twenty Black- 

 birds {Scolecophagus cyanoeephalus). The bravest birds of the troop 

 were Bewick's Wren and Bullock's Oriole, which kept darting at the 

 Owl's head as it sat on the ground devouring a young Blackbird." (BuU. 

 Nutt. Ornith. Club, vol. in, p. 193.) 



DESCRIPTION. 



Size very small; no ear tufts. Lower leg not longer than middle toe, 

 densely feathered; tail more than half as long as wing, tip rounded. 

 Sides of breast brownish, more or less spotted with paler; tail bands 

 always white, the interspaces blackish; top of head speckled or dotted 

 whitish. Below, striped with blackish ; back slaty grayish. 



Length: 6.50 to 7.50 inches (165 to IGO"^"); extent, 14.50 to 15.50 



inches (368 to 393"""); wing, 3.40 to 4 inches (86 to 101° 

 to 2.80 inches (60 to TO"™). 



°); tail, 2.40 



SiiMMABY. — Of 6 stomachs examined, 1 contained a small bird; 1, a mouse; 1, lizards; 1, an insect, 

 and 2 were empty. 



