(PYGMY OWL.)
+Glaucidium nanum+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 117; _Burm. La-Plata
Reise_, ii. p. 441; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 549 (Rio Negro);
_White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 41 (Cordova); _Döring, Exp. al Rio
Negro_, p. 49 (Rio Negro); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ ii. p. 190.
_Description._--Above dull reddish brown, mottled with concealed
spots and bars of ochraceous buff; scapulars with an ashy tinge;
head more rufous and longitudinally streaked; whitish collar on the
hind neck; wings dark brown, banded with rufous; tail dark brown,
with about ten rufous bars, and tipped with whitish; cheeks and chin
pure white, the latter divided by a dark brown throat-band from the
white fore neck; abdomen white, streaked with dark brown: whole
length 8·0 inches, wing 3·8, tail 2·9. _Female_ similar, but rather
larger.
_Hab._ La Plata, Patagonia, and Chili.
This diminutive Owl, which barely reaches eight inches in length, and is
light brown and grey in colour, was discovered by Captain King in 1827
in the neighbourhood of the Straits of Magellan. I met with it on the
Rio Negro in Patagonia, but saw very little of it. It struck me that,
like the Burrowing-Owl, it is not very strictly nocturnal, for I
observed it in the daytime perched in exposed situations.
In 1882 White met with it in Cosquin, in Cordova, and made the following
important note on its habits:--"It causes the naturalist much amusement
to watch the habits of this pretty little Owl, that, perched perfectly
motionless on a branch, utters such a sirenic cry as to attract little
birds in great numbers. They are observed to cluster round it, all the
while fluttering and in great excitement, charmed by some fascination.
After waiting a while the Owl suddenly pounces upon the nearest for its
victim."
I also observed little birds mobbing it, when it perched in a
conspicuous place in the daytime, as they always mob small birds of
prey, but was not so fortunate as to hear the "sirenic cry" with which
the Cordova bird fascinates its victims. One has heard this yarn of a
"sirenic cry" before, of other species, for it is a very common myth.
That an Owl should now be fitted with the old melodious cap seems
strange; and Mr. White is in error when he says that this habit in our
bird "causes the _naturalist_ much amusement."
Order VII. ACCIPITRES.
Fam. XXXII. FALCONIDÆ, or FALCONS.
The diurnal birds of prey of the family Falconidæ found in the
Neotropical Region number about 110 species, of which 22 are at present
known to occur within the limits of the present work. It is probable,
however, that many additional species of this group will be hereafter
added to the Argentine list.
As is usually the case with the Accipitres, most of the species have an
extensive distribution.