70 Munro, Birds of the Okanogan Valley. [}"„. 



Asio wilsonianus. Long-eared Owl. — On April 19, 1917, I found a 

 female occupying a new crows' nest and sitting on one egg. Broken crow's 

 eggs on the ground below the nest indicated that she had evicted the 

 original owners. On April 30, the crows were again in possession and the 

 nest contained four crow's eggs. The owl then laid four eggs in an old 

 crow's nest, fifty yards from the first one. These eggs were collected on 

 May S, and the owl moved to a third crow's nest in the same patch of 

 brush. On June 23, the nest contained two half-grown young. 



Glaucidium gnoma gnoma. Pygmy Owl. — Common resident. 

 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. On Vancouver Island I 

 once called up four at one time. They are usually followed by an excited 

 crowd of Chickadees, Nuthatches and other small birds, that keep darting 

 at the owl as long as it is in the open. When answering the call, they 

 usually sit in a conspicuous position, at the top of a tree or on a dead 

 branch. The Pygmy Owl must be one of the greatest enemies of small 

 birds, as an imitation of its call will excite every bird in the neighbor- 

 hood, while they pay little attention to the call of a " Scops " owl or a 

 Saw- whet. 



The only nest I have found was in an old woodpecker's hole, thirty-five 

 feet above the ground in a western larch. There were seven downy young 

 in this nest. This was in a thick forest of Murray pine, Douglas fir, and 

 western larch, where they are more plentiful than in the yellow pine 

 stands at lower altitudes. 



Picoides americanus fasciatus. Alaska Three-toed Wood- 

 pecker. — This species is resident and fairly common in Murray pine. 

 Western larch, and spruce forests. I have never found them in yellow 

 pine or Douglas fir country. They prefer the burnt areas of timber, and 

 specimens collected are generally stained with charcoal on the under-parts. 

 During the nesting season the males call with a rippling tattoo from the very 

 top of the tallest dead tree, near the nesting tree. This calling is usually 

 done in the early morning. On May 28, 1917, I found a nest that had just 

 been finished, thirty feet from the ground in a dead Murray pine. The 

 entrance was smaller than would be expected, slightly over one and a half 

 inches, and the hole about fourteen inches deep. No eggs had been laid 

 and as I had to leave the locality that day I was unable to revisit the nest. 

 A half grown male collected on June 17, 1916, showed a few scattered 

 yellow feathers on the crown. 



Stellula calliope. Calliope Hummingbird. — This hummer fre- 

 quently nests in the same tree for several years in succession. A dead 

 lichen covered branch of maple or birch is often chosen. The nests straddle 

 the branch, and I have never seen one that was pensile. The two nesta 

 described were probably lower down than is usual. 



