ROCKY MOUNTAIN PYGMY OWL 405 



hours. Of course, it is easier to see a daylight-loving bird ; but one is 

 simply not looking for an owl then, and so fails to recognize it. The 

 first observers did not credit this owl with any diurnal habits but 

 spoke of hearing it at night and of accidentally seeing it at dusk. 

 It was not until several years had elapsed that its true habits were 

 known. As a matter of fact, it is as daylight loving as most small 

 birds are; but, like them, the Rocky Mountain pygmy is more active 

 early in the morning and late in the afternoon. This subspecies is a 

 lover of the forests, especially the pine forests of the mountains. And 

 yet Major Bendire shot a female on "February 5, 1875, in the vicinity 

 of Camp Harney, Oregon, at least 5 miles from the nearest timber. 

 It was perched on a large bowlder lying at the foot of a basaltic 

 cliff." But this was evidently an exception, rare with this bird. 

 Because it lives in the coniferous forests, it is easy for this small owl 

 to remain hidden, especially as it has the habit of sitting quietly upright 

 on a limb, close to the trunk of the tree. Since most of its food is 

 caught in the open, and about meadows, it is more often found in the 

 trees near a sizable opening. In fact, I have no records of its occur- 

 rence in a heavy, dense forest, far from an opening of some land. 

 Mrs. Bailey (1918) writes: 



It should be looked for mainly in the pines and on dead trees. Although 

 diurnal, this tiny owl is more commonly seen at dusk or in the early morning in 

 September or October around the border of the prairie patches on the west side 

 of [Glacier] Park. Mr. Bryant writes: "On a fine sunny day the pygmy owl 

 will often perch on the topmost twig of some tall larch, and morning and evening 

 give a peculiar but pleasing sort of whistle." The white-headed lumberjack [or 

 Rocky Mountain jay] "can mock them perfectly," he says, and he adds, "Many 

 times when I thought I was about to collect a pygmy I have come face to face 

 with the jack." 



Major Bendire (1892) says there are "never more than one at a 

 time." But Mr. Henshaw, as quoted by Major Bendire in the same 

 work, "found the Pygmy Owls quite numerous in the southern Rocky 

 Mountains, and states that they are rather sociable in disposition, 

 especially during the fall months. He says he has imitated their call 

 and readily lured them up close enough to be seen." In fact, this 

 subspecies can be easily decoyed by imitating its call. 



In the Yellowstone Park, I found pygmy owls tame, unsuspicious, 

 and given to perching on the tips of low trees in semiopen places, on 

 cold mornings at least. At such times, they seem to be enjoying the 

 warmth of the rising sim. Then, there is nothing to indicate the bird's 

 prowess as a hunter, nor the terror that it must often bring to a multi- 

 tude of the smaller forms of life. 



P. A. Taverner (1926) says: "An extraordinary and interesting little 

 Owl. It is largely diurnal, and so small that one naturally expects 

 it to have a gentle and unassertive disposition. This, however, is far 

 from being the case. If the reaction of the small woodland birds to 



