414 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



which has never been abundant, merely falls there accidentally as 

 I believe is the case with the Rocky Mountain subspecies, also. Some 

 of it may have been carried into the nest by adhering temporarily 

 to the pygmies' plumage; but I have never seen, nor heard, of any 

 nesting material intentionally carried into the hole by the adults. 



Eggs.- — The average number of eggs in a clutch, for this subspecies, 

 is three or four; but J. A. Munro, as already quoted, found seven 

 young in one nest. J. C. Braly (1930) says that on May 21, 1930, 

 in his Fort Klamath nest, there were "six beautiful white eggs, slightly 

 advanced in incubation." Apparently eggs are laid from May 5 

 to shortly after June 1, and incubation starts immediately after the 

 first egg is laid. The eggs are white, short oval, and probably approach 

 a sphere as closely as do the eggs of any American bird. So far as 

 I know from my own experience, they are never tinted or marked in 

 any way; but Oliver Davie (1889) says that Ready's Santa Cruz 

 eggs had a "scarcely perceptible yellowish tinge." Actually they 

 are much like the eggs of the mourning dove, although a little larger. 



[Author's note: The measurements of 24 eggs average 29.6 by 

 24.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 31.5 by 

 24.5, 30.9 by 25, 28 by 24, and 30.7 by 23.3 millimeters.] 



Young. — Since incubation apparently begins with the laying of the 

 first egg, the emergence of the owlets may be spread over a day or two. 

 In the Yosemite Valley, where I became acquainted with this sub- 

 species, the first young pygmies hatch about May 25. They are blind, 

 helpless, and almost naked. Like so many other very young birds, 

 they seem all head and stomach, with a thin, scraggly neck connecting 

 the two. The mother bird removes all egg shells and undesired debris 

 from the nest. During the time that the young remain in the nest, 

 and for a short time afterward, she does most of if not all the feeding ; 

 while the male parent brings food to the mother for both her own use 

 and for the owlets. At first most of this food consists of small birds; 

 later, mice and other small mammals are added. Dr. H. C. Bryant 

 writes me in a letter dated October 7, 1933: "One outstanding memory 

 is that of a parent standing on a limb near the entrance to the nest, 

 holding a fence lizard. When this bird felt that all was safe, it entered 

 the nesting cavity, carrying its prey." The nest referred to was in 

 the Yosemite Valley. As a rule the male bird decapitates and partly 

 skins the food before passing it over to the female. After the young 

 have been fed inside for about three weeks, the mother sometimes 

 coaxes them out on a limb to eat. At first, they remain more or less 

 quietly on the limb; but, after they have acquired more confidence, 

 they move along the limbs, or hop from one to another. A few days 

 of this and the owlets begin to try short nights. During early flights, 

 they may miss the desired perch. In that event, they alight lower 

 down, and then scramble back up limb by limb. 



