420 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



us a few additional items on the pygmy's fare: "A California Pygmy 

 Owl when collected was found to have in its claws, a freshly killed 

 Cassin Purple Finch (Carpodacus cassinii), of which the head and 

 part of the entrails had already been eaten." 



But the Michaels go a step farther and not only speak of the pygmies 

 eating the head first, but also record a distinct habit of storing away 

 food for future use. They say: "A mouse at a meal was too much 

 for him, and yet with mice to be had for the taking he would not 

 waste what he could not eat. After eating off the head and shoulder 

 of the mouse he would carefully store away the hind quarters in some 

 secret niche in the neighboring wood. These stores we believe were 

 put away against the emergency, and we doubt if he ever fell back 

 on these stores while fresh kills were to be made. Another incident 

 tending to bear out the theory that the pygmy owl does not always 

 reclaim his cache came to our notice recently. It was on the morning 

 of November 29; we had wandered down the valley to learn what 

 birds were present after the severe storm. As we moved along a 

 bear trail close to the river a glint of blue in the underbrush caught our 

 eyes. Perched silent and motionless were two blue-fronted jays. 

 They appeared to be gazing fascinated at some object hidden from 

 our view. We moved forward and a pygmy owl rose from the ground 

 carrying with effort a full-grown meadow mouse. The owl came to 

 perch on a low branch a few feet away. The jays followed, still 

 silent, and alighted within two feet of the owl. Now the strange thing 

 about the whole affair was the behavior of the jays. Usually when 

 jays, or for that matter other lands of birds, discover an owl they at 

 once set up a great commotion, attracting all the birds of the neigh- 

 borhood, and with the coming of the birds a mob scene is enacted. 

 We concluded that the jays knowing that the owl could not consume 

 the mouse at one sitting, were waiting for their share of the spoils." 



F. C. Holman (1926) gives us a fine summary of the food habits of 

 a nestful of pygmies in the Yosemite Valley, saying: 



Between the day the nest was discovered, May 19, and July 1, an interval of 

 forty-three days, nineteen identifications were made of the food material brought 

 by the male and received by his mate. The list consists of eight lizards, five birds, 

 and six small mammals, apparently mice. While this may represent fairly the 

 main diet, it should be borne in mind that our occasional inability to recognize 

 the prey was particularly applicable to smaller objects. The lizards were easily 

 distinguished with their long dark tails hanging down behind the owl when at 

 rest, and even more conspicuous when in flight. 



Of the birds, the first to be recognized was a warbler, probably a female Cala- 

 veras, and later, on June 19, a male Calaveras was carried into the hole. On the 

 27th a fledging of some small kind was noted, and on the following daj r , another 

 of a larger species with noticeably long legs, and too immature to have left its 

 nest. * * * The male was dedicated to the chase and would leave imme- 

 diately after delivering his plunder. Naturally his arrivals were extremely irre- 

 gular. The best record noted was on June 7 when, besides an early call, he 

 brought in between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. two lizards and two mice. 



