_Micrathene_, COUES, P. A. N. S. Philad. 1866, 57. (Type, _Athene
whitneyi_, COOPER.)
GEN. CHAR. Size very small (the smallest Owl known); head small, and
without ear-tufts. Bill and feet weak. Tail short, less than half the
wing, even. Nostril small, circular, opening in the middle of the much
inflated ceral membrane. Tarsus a little longer than the middle toe,
naked, scantily haired, as are also the toes. Four outer quills with
their inner webs sinuated; fourth longest. Ear-conch very small, simple,
roundish. Bill pale greenish; iris yellow.
[Illustration: ½
_Micrathene whitneyi._]
This well-marked genus is represented by a single species, found in
the Colorado region of the United States, and in Western Mexico. It
is the smallest of all known Owls, and has the general aspect of a
_Glaucidium_. From the fact that feathers of birds were found in its
stomach, we may reasonably infer that it is of exceedingly rapacious
habits, like the species of that genus.
Species.
=M. whitneyi.= Above grayish olive-brown, sprinkled with small, rather
obscure, spots of pale rusty, and interrupted by a whitish nuchal
collar; outer webs of the lower series of scapulars pure white. Wings
spotted with white and pale fawn-color; tail grayish-brown, crossed
by five to six narrow interrupted bands of pale fawn-color. Eyebrows
and lores pure white; a cravat of the same on the chin. Beneath white,
marked with large, rather longitudinal, ragged blotches of pale
rusty, mottled with dusky. Bill pale greenish; iris yellow. Length,
5.50–6.25; extent of wings, 14.25–15.25 (measurements of freshly
killed specimens). Wing, 4.00–4.40; tail, 1.90–2.30. _Hab._ Fort
Mohave, California (April), and Socorro Island, west coast of Mexico.
Micrathene whitneyi, COUES.