CALIFORNIA PYGMY OWL 425 



I left camp with the expectation of encountering its author somewhere within a 

 hundred yards. I followed the siren call through a fringe of woods, across a bit 

 of prairie, through a swamp, over a wooded hill, and into the depths of the forest 

 beyond, where, at the summit of a grim fir tree, at a height of two hundred feet, 

 and at a distance from camp of more than one mile, I made out the instigator of the 

 pleasant exercise. * * * 



Coming south for the winter of 1912-13 Mr. Brooks amazed us by his mastery 

 of this woodland cry * * *. Not only will the Owls themselves respond to 

 the cry and hurry forward, astonishment and perplexity written in every line, but 

 all the song-birds rally also. It is the master call of the woods, as effective in 

 California as the Screech Owl quaver is in the East. 



J. A. Munro (1919) also comments on the pygmies answering an 

 imitation of their notes. He says: 



This is the easiest of the owls to call. They will come readily at any time of 

 the day, and from long distances to an imitation of their call. They approach 

 the caller with short flights from one tree-top, to another slightly nearer. When 

 in a tree directly over the caller's head, a further call will bring them down to the 

 lower branches, often within a few yards. Often two or more will come from 

 different directions. * * * They are usually followed by an excited crowd of 

 Chickadees, Nuthatches and other small birds, and keep darting at the owl as 

 long as it is in the open. When answering the call, they usually sit in a con- 

 spicuous position, at the top of a tree or on a dead branch. 



Lyman Belding compares the note of the California pygmy owl to 

 that of the yellow-billed cuckoo with which he was very familiar. 

 Charles W. Bowles (1912) speaks of an observed difference in the 

 notes of the two sexes, the male's note being a very high pitched, 

 staccato affair, the female's being similar but lower, softer, and more 

 liquid. F. C. Holman (1926) gives some additional particulars when 

 he says: "The only note of the female [at a Yosemite nest in May- 

 June 1925] was a soft twitter used indiscriminately, as when in protest 

 to noisy pugnacious neighbors or when on the wing flying to her mate 

 in response to his summons. His call invariably announced food, 

 and was the well known whistle of a single note given three times, 

 rarely four, and the interval before repeating, of variable duration, 

 extending into minutes. On one occasion only was the long trilling 

 call heard, and possibly it might have come from some other member 

 of the tribe." 



Fall. — Although the California pygmy owl is ordinarily a resident 

 throughout its range, it does sometimes make considerable move- 

 ments in fall. Wyman and Burnell (1925) say that this subspecies is 

 "at lower levels in winter" than in summer. But I think all these 

 movements are sporadic, rather than regular, and that they are only 

 indulged in by certain individuals, or during exceptional weather. If 

 this idea be true, we can hardly call these pygmies truly migratory. 



Enemies. — Throughout its range the California pygmy is subject to 

 the tormenting and "mobbing" of gatherings of all sorts of smaller 



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