"i^S Bendire Ofi the Habits of Glaucidium. [October 



over that region, and the roots of it were lying partly under a 

 younger and bushy tree of the same species, that was taking the 

 place of the older one in the course of nature. The massive 

 trunk of the old tree was free from limbs for about forty feet, and 

 was slowly but surely decaying. A large-sized pocket gopher, 

 who perhaps found a congenial home amongst the roots of the 

 old tree, on hearing the noise the Sergeant made in his ap- 

 proach, had climbed up on to the trunk of the tree, possibly to 

 get a good view of the intruder and to warn the balance of his 

 family, when, quick as a flash, a little Pygmy Owl, that had been 

 securely hidden among the- branches of the growing pine, 

 dropped down with unerring aim on its victim and fastened its 

 sharp little talons securely into the astonished gopher's back. 

 Sergeant Smith's attention was drawn to the performance by a 

 squeak from the gopher which, in trying to escape, ran along on 

 top of the fallen pine almost its entire length, making rather 

 slow progress however, hampered by the Owl as it was, when the 

 Sergeant fired, killing both. During this time, nearly a couple 

 of minutes, the Owl sat upright on the gopher's back, never 

 letting go its hold an instant, twisting its head nearly off the 

 bodv in trying to keep an eye on the Sergeant, who was 

 rapidly approaching, but apparently showing no uneasiness 

 whatever. He told me that the whole thing was done in such a 

 business-like manner, that it was evidently not the first ride of 

 the kind this little Owl had so taken. It held on to its prey even 

 in death. I published a short account of this occurrence at the 

 time, in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural His- 

 tory, Vol. XVni, Oct. 6, 1S75. Both specimens are in the 

 National Museum Collection. 



I also met with the Pygmy Owl on several occasions at Fort 

 Klamath, Oregon. I remember quite distinctly seeing one 

 (presumably the same individual) several times at various hours 

 of the day sitting patiently, but wide awake, on a single long 

 and slender willow branch overhanging Fort Creek, but a little 

 distance from the Post. I refrained from shooting it, as I sus- 

 pected it nested in the vicinity, and it would also have been 

 rather difficult to secure. I can't say so positively, but think it 

 used that particular perch for no other purpose than to catch 

 frogs. The willow overhung a marshy, reed-covered spot, 

 where the water was rather shallow, and which seemed to be a 



