CALIFORNIA PYGMY OWL 413 



have had the largest opening of any, except the one described by 

 Messrs. Holman and Wilson, and it is notable also for its nearness to 

 the ground. An account of a nest found by George H. Ready, in a 

 poplar [probably a black cottonwood] is given by W. A. Cooper (1879) 

 as occurring "two miles from Santa Cruz on the San Lorenzo River." 

 This nest, unlike those previously noted, was not in the mountains, 

 but was comparatively near the Pacific Ocean and not high above it. 

 O. W. Howard, as recorded in the Nidiologist, vol. 2, p. 153, also, found 

 a nest near the ocean at Carpinteria, Calif., but gives us no clue as to 

 its height above sea level. Mr. Howard's nest, found in the summer 

 of 1895, was especially interesting because it was "in a hollow sycamore 

 tree, six feet from the ground." 



George Willett (1912) gives an account of another nest in a syca- 

 more, found by F. S. Daggett, that was maintained for at least three 

 seasons prior to 1896, near Switzer's Camp in the Arroyo Seco, Los 

 Angeles County. While Switzer's is actually in the mountains, the 

 altitude of this location was probably not very high. This record is 

 interesting, for it indicates that these pygmies sometimes nest for 

 several successive seasons in the same hole. Another lowland nest 

 was recorded by Mr. Sharp (1907): "A pair of these diminutive 

 owls were found nesting at Escondido by the late J. M. Hatch in 

 1895 and 1896. The nests were in oaks not far apart both being in 

 hollow, nearly horizontal limbs with openings allowing access to the 

 nest from either side." The eggs were well incubated and hence were 

 not disturbed. "Mr. Chas. Schnack who was with Mr. Hatch when 

 the second nest was found tells me the owls had a curious trick of 

 flattening themselves out on a branch so that it was almost impossible 

 to tell them from the branch itself." Mr. Swarth (1910a) writes of 

 a nest from southern California, found on June 28, 1894, this time in 

 a dead pine in Bear Valley, and probably another in a yellow pine, in 

 the San Bernardino Mountains. 



While all the several nests in the Yosemite Valley were in oak 

 trees, and there are records of nests in oaks in other sections, it is 

 evident that California pygmy owls may nest in several different 

 kinds of trees. They nest at altitudes varying from sea level to 6,000 

 feet above, and mostly in the Transition Zone, with a few in Upper 

 Sonoran Life Zone. The average height above the ground is 40 feet, 

 although varying from 6 to 75 feet. 



Probably the list of nests observed by myself and by other workers 

 numbers as many as 50, but in only one case has nesting material 

 been observed and mentioned. George H. Ready, as quoted by W. A. 

 Cooper (1879), speaks of "stirring up the nest which was made of 

 twigs." Still, he does not say that the twigs were actually placed 

 there by the birds. The nest holes examined by myself often contain 

 parts of leaves, pine needles, and trash, but I think this material, 



