FLAMMULATED SCREECH OWL 291 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Southern Arizona south through Mexico to Guatemala. 

 Nonmigratory. 



The range of the spotted screech owl extends north to southern 

 Airzona (Huachuca Mountains and the Chiricahua Mountains). 

 East to southeastern Arizona (Chiricahua Mountains and the Hua- 

 chuca Mountains); Chihuahua (Carmen); Durango (Rio Sestin); 

 Mexico (Chimalpa and Ajusco); Puebla (Zentla); and Guatemala 

 (Uspantan, San Lucas, and Villanueva). South to Guatemala (Villa- 

 nueva, Joyabajo, and Chichicastenango); Oaxaca (La Parada); and 

 Guerrero (Omilteme). West to Guerrero (Omilteme); Michoacan 

 (Patzcuaro); Jalisco (Los Masos and La Pisagua); Nayarit (Sierra 

 Madre); and Arizona (Huachuca Mountains and Chiricahua Moun- 

 tains). 



Egg dates. — Arizona: 4 records, May 1 to 9. 



OTUS FLAMMEOLUS (Kaup) 

 FLAMMULATED SCREECH OWL 



HABITS 



This pretty and gentle little owl is now known to be quite widely 

 distributed in mountainous regions from southern British Columbia 

 and Idaho southward through Mexico to the highlands of Guatemala. 

 It was first added to our list by Capt. John Feilner, who obtained a 

 single specimen, a young bird, near Fort Crook, Calif., on August 23, 

 1860. Its nest was not found until June 15, 1875, when Charles A. 

 Aiken took a single egg in Wet Mountain Valley, Colo. It is still one 

 of the rarest of our owls and scarce in collections. 



Harry S. Swarth (1904) evidently considered this owl as mainly a 

 migrant in Arizona, though it is well known to breed there, for he 

 says: 



Although the Flammulated Screech Owl is quite a common migrant in the 

 Huachucas some years, I believe that but very few remain to breed, the bulk of 

 them going farther north. In 1896 eight, and in 1902 seven, specimens were 

 secured; and of these, I believe all but one were migrating birds. * * * The 

 earliest secured was on April 22, 1902, and the latest on May 12 of the same year. 

 All were shot where they were sitting in the trees, usually in dense thickets almost 

 impossible to penetrate; and this fact may perhaps account for so few specimens 

 of this bird being taken, as quite half of those secured were found while searching 

 for the nest of such birds as bred in the thick brush. On May 5, 1902, O. W. Howard 

 secured two females in some willows on the San Pedro River, fifteen miles from the 

 mountains and an exceptionally low altitude for this species, about 3000 feet. 

 The breeding bird mentioned was taken at about 8000 feet elevation; and all the 

 others, from the base of the mountain (about 4500 feet) up to 6000 feet. 



A. J. van Rossem (1936) found the flammulated screech owl breeding 

 in the Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona: "At Littleshot Cabin, in the 

 mixed oaks and pines at 7000 feet, a male was collected at dusk on 



