514 
SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — MAP TOMES — STBIGES. 
not very well ImoMm, as it is shy and retiring, and quite nocturnal in habits. It is chiefly 
noted for its shrill harsh notes, which, being likened to tiling a saw, have occasioned its name. 
The nest is usually made in the hollow of a tree or stump, in April; the eggs are 3-6 in number^ 
white, nearly globular, about 1.00 X 0.87- 
168. GLAUCI'DIUM. (Gr. dhnin. of -yXau^, (jrZawa:, an owl.) Gnome Owls. Sparrov^ Owls. 
Pygmy Owls. Size very small. Head perfectly smooth ; no plumicorns ; ear-parts small, 
non-operculate ; facial disc very incomplete, the eye not centric. Nostril circular, opening in 
the tumid cere ; bill robust. Tarsus fully and closely feathered, but toes only bristly for the 
most part. Wings short and much rounded, the 4th primary longest, the 1st quite short, the 
8 outer ones emarginate, and next one or two sinuate. Tail long, about | as long as the wing, 
even or nearly so. Claws strong, much curved. A large genus of very small owls, mostly of 
tropical countries. The numerous species, chiefly of warm parts of America, are in dire con- 
fusion, but the only two known to inhabit N. Am. are w^ell determined. The plumage of 
Jnany or most species is dichromatic, as in Scops, there being a red and a gray phase indepen- 
dently of age, season, or sex ; but the red is not known to occur in our G. gnoma. The upper 
parts are marked with spots or lines ; bars, or rows of spots, cross the wings and tail ; the 
under parts are streaked ; there is a cervical collar. Notwithstanding their slight stature, the 
gnome owls are bold and predaceous, sometimes attacking birds quite as large as themselves. 
They are not specially nocturnal. The eggs are laid in holes in trees, and are not peculiar in 
character. 
Analysis of Species. 
Markings of upper parts in dots and round spots. Tail dark brown, with rows of white spots . . gnoma 484 
Markings of upper parts in sharp lines. Tail reddish, with dark brown bars ferrugineum 485 
484. G. gno'ma. (Lat. gnoma, a spirit of the mines.) Californian Gnome Owl. ^ 9 , adult : 
Tail concolor with the back, and markings of the upper parts, as well as those crossing the 
wings and tail, in the form of dots or round spots, not lines or bars. Upper parts one shade of 
dark brown, everywhere dotted with small circular spots of white; a collar of mixed blackish - 
brown and white around the back of the neck ; breast with a band of mottled brown, separating 
the white throat from the white of the rest of the under parts, which have irregular lengthwise 
streaks of reddish-brown. Wings and tail dusky-brown, the feathers marked on both webs with 
rows of round white spots, largest on the inner ; under wing-coverts white, crossed obliquely 
by a blackish bar. Bill, cere, and feet dull greenish-yellow; soles chrome yeUow ; claws 
black ; iris bright yellow ; mouth livid flesh -color. Length of ^ 7-00 or a little less ; extent 
14.50; wing 3.75 ; tail 3.00. Length of 9 7.50; extent 15.50, etc. In the 9 the upper parts 
are rather lighter, with fewer larger spots, and a nearly obsolete nuchal collar ; but both sexes^ 
vary in the tint of the upper parts, which ranges from pure deep brown to pale grayish, almost 
olivaceous, brown, probably according to age and season, the newer feathers being darker than 
they are when old and worn. The condition of erythrism, so well known in the next species, 
has not been observed in the present one, which is closely related to the sparrow owl of Europe 
{G. passerinum, fig. 359). Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, U. S. and southward, common in wooded 
regions ; an interesting little owl, crepuscular and rather diurnal than strictly nocturnal, preying 
chiefly upon insects, but also upon birds and quadrupeds sometimes about as large as itself. 
485. G. ferrugi^neum. (Lat. ferrugineum, rusty-red.) Ferrugineous Gnome Owl. $ 9 > 
adult, normal plumage : Tail entirely ferrugineous, or light chestnut-red, crossed with 7 to 9 
bars of blackish-brown, — of the same width as the rufous interspaces, and both sets of mark- 
ings quite regular. (These tail-marks distinguish the species in any plumage from G. gnoma.) 
Entire top of the head, above the superciliary ridges, and sides of the head behind the auriculars, 
olivaceous-brown, streaked with small, distinct lines of white or fulvous-whitish ; these mark- 
ings being on the forehead and most of the crown like pin-scratches in their sharpness, and 
though a little less so behind the ears, everywhere retaining their narrow linear character. (In 
