112 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Dr. Pickering mentions that a species of Burrowing Owl, probably 

 the present bird, is found in the Cordilleras, and that he was informed 

 that it takes possession of abandoned excavations, made by the miners, 

 and even, occasionally, of mines, when deserted. 



4. Athene nova zealandi^e {Gmelin). — The New Zealand Owl, 



Strix nova zelandke, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, p. 296 (1788). 

 Strlx fidva, Forster, Disc. An. p. 71 (1844). 



Nuctua veiiatica, Peale, Zool. U. S. Exp. Exp. Birds, p. 75 (1848).* 



Voy. Astrolabe, Ois. Plate 11, Fig. 2. 



Of this handsome little species, which appears to be peculiar to the 

 Island of New Zealand, we find several notices by the naturalists of 

 the Expedition. Mr. Peale alludes to this bird, as follows : 



" It is common at the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, and its hoot 

 may be heard almost nightly. In the day it seeks the deep recesses 

 in the hills, and sits quietly ensconced in the thick foliage, waiting 

 the return of night, unless disturbed by the ' Hi-waka-waka' [Musci- 

 capa fliibellifera, Gm.), a beautiful fan-tailed fly-catcher, which is very 



* " Above, umber-brown ; front, between the eyes, wbite ; cheeks brown ; feathers of the 

 neck bimaculate, the spots pale ochre ; dorsal feathers with four white spots, none of 

 them visible without raising the feathers; throat, breast, belly, and vent, pale buff, each 

 feather having a brown line along the middle, and those of the belly having, in addition, 

 two white spots near their extremities; under tail-coverts tawny, with an umber-spot 

 Dear the end of each feather; all the plumage dark lead-colored at the base, tarsi covered 

 •with tawny rufous plumage, banded with umber; toes yellow, covered with dark brown 

 bristles; claws dark brown, small, and very sharp; bill olive green; irides yellow; wings 

 dark brown, with white bands at the base of the quills, the bands becoming obscure 

 towards their extremities; fourth quill longest, shafts dark brown ; under coverts buff, 

 mottled with brown ; tail, consisting of twelve feathers, rounded and having six narrow 

 white bars on the inner webs, which are scarcely visible on the upper surface, but con- 

 spicuous beneath and near the base, gradually becoming obscure towards the extremity. 



"Total length, eleven and eight-tenths inches; wing, from the carpal joint, seven and 

 nine-tenths inches; tail, four and nine-tenths inches; tarsi, one and three-twentieths of 

 an inch ; middle toe, including the nail, one and seven-twentieths of an inch; nail, four- 

 tenths of an inch; hind toe, three-fourths of an inch; nail, seven-twentieths of an inch; 

 bill, seven-tenths of an inch. Female." 



