FERRUGINOUS PYGMY OWL 437 



quite care to father that story. Carl Euler says, further, that in captivity, when 

 fed on birds, it always carefully removed all the larger feathers from the carcass 

 before beginning its meal. 



Mr. Gilman (1909) says of one he had in captivity: "She freely ate 

 the bodies of small birds collected, and was properly patriotic in that 

 she showed a savage delight in assimilating English Sparrows. I kept 

 her about six weeks and her appetite improved all the time, any small 

 fry being grist for her mill. She usually began eating at the head, and 

 while she ate freely in the daytime, she disliked being watcht at 

 her meals." 



Behavior. — Mr. Gilman (1909) writes: 



At Agua Caliente I heard one of these owls hooting repeatedly one hot day, and 

 investigating, found two hummingbirds busily attacking him as he sat in a mes- 

 quite tree. I began to look for his mate and soon saw a promising looking Gila 

 Woodpecker hole some seven feet up in a palo verde tree. Wishing to capture Mrs. 

 Pygmy if she were at home I softly crept to the tree and stept up on a low branch 

 in order to reach the hole. At the first noise the bird attempted to leave, but a 

 hand clapt over the hole stopt her. A big handkerchief was thrust down the hole 

 while I enlarged it sufficiently to insert my hand and arm. When my hand 

 reached the bottom I thought it was in contact with a live wire, and I was absolutely 

 sure I had "grabbed a live one." 



When the hand was withdrawn the owl came along quite easily. One claw was 

 thru the nail of my little finger, another imbedded in big finger, while her beak was 

 thrust deep into my thumb. Blood was running from all three wounds, and the 

 bird hung on like a bulldog. It took no little diplomacy to remove her without 

 forming an entangling alliance with the other hand, but she was finally safe in a 

 handkerchief. I will back one of these owls in a rough and tumble fight with 

 anything twice the size. 



Mr. Breninger (1898) says: 



Unlike other members of the Owl family this species feeds largely during the 

 daytime. I have had them pounce down upon and carry away wounded birds as 

 large as robins. * * * They can be seen perched out on some exposed 

 situation surveying the ground beneath, and nothing seems to pass unnoticed. 

 With eyes that never sleep and pluck that never diminishes until death, it is a 

 formidable foe even to the large rodents that burrow in the sands and alluvial 

 deposits of the river bottoms. 



Not long since I came upon a single individual seated upon a leafless limb 

 of a cottonwood tree. Being prompted to learn how close an approach the owl 

 would allow without seeking other quarters, I came within a few feet of being 

 directly beneath the bird when a quail flew up near my feet. With a hunter's 

 instinct my gun came to my shoulder and the quail fell some thirty or forty yards 

 off. The shot did not disturb the owl in the least. After securing the game I 

 threw it beneath the owl; its eyes were at once turned groundward, and its gaze 

 upon the lifeless form of the quail was so intent that I succeeded in climbing to 

 within five feet of the bird before its eyes were turned toward me; then, with a few 

 erratic jerks of its tail, it flew to another tree where it soon called up its mate. 



Voice.— Major Bendire (1892) says: "Its call, according to my 

 notes, is 'chu, chu, chu', a number of times repeated, and most 

 frequently heard in the evening. According to Mr. F. Stephens, its 

 note is a loud 'cuck', repeated several times as rapidly as twice each 



