80 HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 



diminished its numbers by depriving the bird of suitable nesting 

 sites. Moreover the owl has ruthlessly been killed of late years, 

 for no other reason than that it is an owl. As a result the pueo 

 is nowadays getting comparatively rare. This is -unfortunate, 

 especially for the cane and coffee growers, since rats and mice are 

 this owl's chief, nay almost its only food, and it annually destroys 

 vast numbers of these mischevious rodents 



That it eats lizards, occasionally at least, is proved by the fact 

 that one which I dissected in Kau had in its crop, in addition toa~ 

 good sized rat, two lizards (Peropus mutilatus and Lepidodac- 

 tylUs garnotti). 



No one alleges mischievous habits against the pueo. It kills no 

 poultry, or does so only exceptionally, and harms no one, and the 

 bird should be protected by law and preserved for the good it is 

 continually doing. 



Its native name, pueo, is a good rendering of its- cry which it 

 commonly utters as it hunts in the early morning hours or the late 

 afternoon. The bird sees uncommonly well in the daytime, and 

 not rarely is abroad in bright sunlight; nor does it fly after dark, 

 unless by moonlight. 



Its habit of remaining stationary ^ome little distance above the 

 ground on rapidly moving wings, as it anxiously scans the groiind 

 beneath for mice, is common in the islands, and is the character- 

 i.stic by which it is most commonly known. 



As is well known this owl nests on the ground among the thick 

 grass, and lays from three to six roundish white eggs. 



Description. — Adult. General color from tawny ochraceus to buffy 

 white, plentifully striped with dark drown ; legs and under tail-coverts un- 

 marked ; wings marked with daxk brown and ochraceous, with dusky bands. 

 Orbital rings black; eye-brows' whitish; no apparent ear-tufts. Length 

 13.80-16.75. 



FALCONID.E. HAWK AND FALCON FAMILY. 



Buteo solitarius, Peale. lo. 



The io is the only representative of the hawk family in the 

 Hawaiian islands, save the accidental marsh hawk, and the rare 

 fish hawk, so far as definitely known. The bird occurs only in the 



