206 Birds of Colorado 



Description. — Adult — Above finely mottled grey and dusky and 

 streaked with black, rather heavily on the crown ; a good deal of white 

 on the scapulars and wing-coverts and the fulvous tinge very faint 

 or absent ; below mottled like the back, but rather paler, heavily 

 blotched and streaked with black, the streaks usually taking branched, 

 tree-like shapes ; iris yellow ?, bill and claws bluish-horn. Length 

 6-25 ; wing 6-5 ; tail 3-0 ; culmen '75 ; tarsus 1-3. 



A young bu-d of the year is hardly to be distinguished from the adult. 

 A male Screech Owl in the Aiken collection, taken in Colorado Springs, 

 January, 1904, in the "red phase" was referred by Brewster, who 

 examined it, to the typical Otus asio, but there seems to me to be no 

 reason for regarding it as anything but the red phase of O. aikeni. 

 In this specimen the whole of the grey motthng above is replaced by 

 rich rufous, with a Uttle black streaking ; the white on the scapulars 

 and coverts is as in the grey phase ; below there is a little rufous on 

 the foro-neck and sides, and a few dark streaks, but the central portion 

 of the under-parts is chiefly white. 



Distribution. — Aiken's Screech Owl is a fairly common resident in 

 Colorado, and is found along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains 

 from El Paso co. south, probably to Fort Wingate in New Mexico. 

 There is a good series, all from the immediate neighbourhood of Colorado 

 Springs, mostly taken in winter, in the Aiken collection. Lowe met 

 with this Owl commonly in the footliills of the Wet Mountains, and 

 once found a family party in thick pinons at 7,800 feet, while the Screech 

 Owls of La Plata co. noticed by Morrison, should probably be referred 

 here. 



Warren has recently (March 28th, 1909) obtained a Screech Owl from 

 Orchard on the Platte in the north of the State which I cannot 

 distinguish from this form, though presumably it should be 0. a. 

 maxwellice, and I very much doubt if it will be possible to maintain 

 the distinction between the two subspecies unless their ranges can be 

 separated. 



Habits. — ^This little Owl is usually found lurking in 

 the hollows of old willows or cotton-woods, and is so tame 

 or perhaps frightened that it can often be caught in the 

 hand. Aiken found the remains of a Pink-sided Junco 

 in the stomach of one examined by him, and it probably 

 preys on small birds as well as mice. 



A nestling in downy plumage was brought alive to 

 Aiken on June 25th, 1905. He kept it for about six 

 months. It became very tame and a great pet. It 



