BIRDS OF PREY i gil 
373c. CALIFORNIA SCREECH OWL. — Megascops 
asio bendiret. 
Famity: The Horned Owls and Hoot Owls. 
Length: 10.00. 
Adults; Eav-tufts conspicuous, about an inch in length; upper parts 
brownish gray, heavily streaked with black or dusky; under parts 
grayish, with heavy streaks and indistinct cross lines of black. 
Young: Plumage barred grayish and whitish. 
Downy Young; Covered with a pure white cottony down. 
Geographical Distribution: Throughout California. 
Breeding Range: In wooded districts throughout the State. 
Breeding Season: March to June. 
Nest: A cavity in a tree, usually oak or cottonwood. 
Eggs: 3 or 4; white. Size 1.40 X 1.17. 
Tus bird may be known by its small size and con- 
spicuous ear-tufts. It breeds commonly throughout 
California. On June 15 one was seen going into a 
red-shafted flicker excavation, eighteen feet from the 
ground, in an old stump near Santa Cruz. An invyesti- 
gation showed five eggs, three of which were the flicker’s. 
The Owl had evidently driven off the flicker and taken 
possession of the nest, and was brooding all the eggs 
indiscriminately. Curious to know how it would come 
out, I hired a boy to watch it. On June 17 the flicker 
eggs evidently had hatched, for every trace of their con- 
tents had disappeared, but the Owl’s eggs were still there. 
Seven days later they hatched, and two funny Owlets 
thickly covered with white down were the result. In 
order to look at them it was necessary to drive the 
mother from the cavity by rapping on the tree with a 
heavy rod, and even then she would not readily go. All 
