wt ae 
| GRINNELL, The California Thrasher. 427 
into the body of the partly eaten bantam and replaced it in the 
same spot where he found it. Next morning the seemingly im- 
possible was made a practical certainty, for he found the body of a 
screech owl with the claws of one foot firmly imbedded in the body 
of the bantam. He very kindly presented me with the owl which, 
upon dissection, proved to be a female, its stomach containing a 
very considerable amount of bantam flesh and feathers, together 
with a great deal of wheat. (It seems probable that the wheat 
was accidentally swallowed with the crop of the bantam during 
the feast, but there was so much that it seems strange the owl did 
not discard it while eating). How a bird only 9.12 inches in length 
could have dealt out such havoc in so short a time is almost in- 
credible, but, although purely circumstantial, the evidence against 
the owl appeared altogether too strong for even a reasonable doubt. 
The doctor and I wished to make as certain as possible, however, 
so the poisoned bantam was replaced and left for several days, 
but without any further results. For the above mentioned reasons 
I am rather doubtful as to the net value of this owl from an 
economic standpoint, although birds in a wild state would not 
give them such opportunities for such wanton killing as birds 
enclosed in pens. 
THE NICHE-RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CALIFORNIA 
THRASHER.:! 
BY JOSEPH GRINNELL. 
Tue California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum) is one of the 
several distinct bird types which characterize the so-called “Cali- 
fornian Fauna.” Its range is notably restricted, even more so 
than that of the Wren-Tit. Only at the south does the California 
Thrasher occur beyond the limits of the state of California, and in 
that direction only as far as the San Pedro Martir Mountains and 
1 Contribution from the Museum of Vertebrate Zodlogy of the University of California. 
