SPOTTED SCREECH OWL 289 



The gray phase is apparently much commoner than the rufescent. 

 In the gray phase of adults, the general color of the upper parts is 

 "brownish gray, coarsely vermiculated with dusky, broadly streaked 

 with black"; and in the rufescent phase, adults are "above light dull 

 cinnamon-rufous, relieved by conspicuous mesial streaks of black", 

 according to Mr. Ridgway (1914). He says further: "The color 

 (rufous) is much lighter and duller than in the rufescent phase of 

 0. asio and its subspecies, and with the black streaks more conspic- 

 uous." 



Food. — Mr. Jacot (1931) writes: "Black crickets, hairy cater- 

 pillars, moths, grasshoppers, large beetle larvae, and centipedes form 

 the principal diet of the Spotted Screech Owl. Moth eggs, undoubt- 

 edly taken from the female moths, were found in two stomachs, and 

 a large spider was found in another. Caterpillars and black crickets 

 are staple articles of their diet the year round. Centipedes are taken 

 more frequently during the winter months than during the summer. 

 Practically every stomach examined during the colder months con- 

 tained one or more small centipedes." 



He tells me, in a letter, that one stomach that he examined "con- 

 tained nine fuzzy caterpillars, seven black crickets, and two centi- 

 pedes." 



Of the five specimens collected by Berry Campbell (1934) at Pena 

 Blanca, Arizona, the "stomach contents were as follows: nos. 190, 

 mantis and grasshopper; 189, mantis, grasshopper, and centipede; 

 2269, 2 Stenopelmatus, 2 caterpillars, and one very large beetle; 2007, 

 2 large hairy caterpillars and one vinagerone; 2269, beetle remains, 

 finely broken. The presence of Stenopelmatus, or mole cricket, indi- 

 cates that these owls must feed from the ground, in part at least. 

 I have observed them on the ground only once." 



Behavior. — Mr. Jacot (1931) writes: 



The Spotted Screech Owl is seldom seen above thirty feet from the ground in 

 any species of tree, and usually ranges below fifteen feet. The birds prefer the 

 Arizona white oak to all other trees, but they were also observed to frequent the 

 alligator-barked juniper, sycamore, Emory oak, mountain ash, and to some 

 extent the walnut. The pine seems to be the least favored of the trees in the region 

 although it is not uncommon. I have only one record of a Spotted Screech Owl 

 frequenting a pine. This was a small sapling, with its branches intermingled 

 with those of a small white oak, and the owl retreated into it at my approach. 



The plumage of the Spotted Screech Owl blends admirably with the bark 

 of the Arizona white oak in daylight or at night. The owl during the day perches 

 at times on a branch close to the trunk of the tree. In this situation, with its 

 eyes closed and hiding the yellow iris, and stretched to its full height, it resembles 

 the dead stub of a branch. This screech owl does not attempt to escape observa- 

 tion at night in this way, but when it is on a large limb, it fluffs out its feathers 

 and leans forward in such a manner that it looks very much like a bulge on the 

 limb. Occasionally, one will be seen perched near the end of a branch among 

 the twigs. In this position, it inclines its body toward the end of the branch and 



