338 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
for wings and tail, rest of upperparts unmarked, ruddy chocolate-brown; face plain 
brown with white eyebrows, underparts plain brown, lighter below. 
Range. —Breeds chiefly in Canadian and Transition Zones from extreme southern 
Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova 
Scotia south to Maryland and Pennsylvania 
(in mountains), northern Illinois, southern Ne¬ 
braska, New Mexico, central Arizona, and east¬ 
ern-central California. 
State Records. —The Saw-whet Owl is a 
fairly common breeder south to central Colorado. 
Its earliest record for New Mexico is that of a 
specimen taken at Camp Burgwyn by Anderson 
and sent to the United States National Museum 
about 1858. There is no date of capture and the 
bird though immature is not young enough to 
indicate that it was reared in the immediate 
vicinity, so that the record can not be used 
as proof that the species breeds in the State. 
One specimen was taken at Mesilla March 4, 1900, and is now in the College col¬ 
lection (Ford); and one was seen there September 2S, 1912 (Merrill); but neither of 
these records indicates breeding. [An adult female was taken, January 23, 1923, 
three miles north of Silver City (Kellogg), and the species was observed at Santa 
Fe in the winter of 1922-23 (Jensen).]—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —In hollow trees, old woodpecker or squirrel holes, or sometimes in nesting 
boxes. Eggs: 3 to 7, white. 
Food. —Principally wood mice, but sometimes rats, half-grown squirrels, chip¬ 
munks, and in summer, many insects. 
General Habits. —The name Saw-whet comes from the peculiar 
call of this little Owl, which resembles “the sound made when a large- 
toothed saw is being filed.” 
While it lives in dense woods and sleeps in the daytime, hidden 
perhaps in an old woodpecker hole so that its habits can not easily be 
studied, one that Mr. Brewster had in captivity was caught in the act 
of disgorging pellets, a process which is doubtless similar in all the 
pellet-forming birds. As Mr. Brewster describes it, “the Owl would 
gape several times; then the head would be violently shaken sideways, 
and finally the pellet, coated with mucous, would shoot forth, frequently 
falling several inches in front of the spot where the bird was sitting. 
After it was all over the little fellow assumed an expression of relief 
and contentment which was very comical” (1882a, p. 24). In watching 
the fall migration at Point Pelee, Messrs. Taverner and Swales recorded 
“four migrational massings of this hitherto supposed resident owl,” 
and concluded that “from the middle to the end of October, they 
migrate in considerable numbers, but from their nocturnal habits and 
secluded habitats while en route are seldom observed” (1911, p. 334). 
Fig. 50. Saw-whet Owl 
