TYPICAL OWLS: Family Strigidae [ 33 5 ] 



and one at Ontario, Malheur County, September 2.4, 192.0. We have 15 

 specimens in our collections, well scattered both geographically and 

 seasonally through eastern Oregon, that are clearly this subspecies, which 

 is therefore the Screech Owl found as a permanent resident in that part 

 of the State. 



Brewster's Screech Owl: 



Otus asio brewsteri Ridgway 



DESCRIPTION. Slightly larger than the California Screech Owl with brownish or 

 buffy markings on the upper parts and sometimes a buffy suffusion beneath. Si%e: 

 Length, male 8.98, wing 6.65, tail 3.35, culmen .58. Nest: In hollow tree or old 

 woodpecker hole. Eggs: 2. to 5, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Western Oregon and extreme southern part of eastern Wash- 

 ington. In Oregon: Resident Screech Owl of western Oregon, the subspecies having 

 been described from Salem by Ridgway in 1914. (See Figure 7.) 



BREWSTER'S SCREECH OWL (Plate 59) is the most common small owl found 

 in western Oregon, and all Screech Owl records in literature from western 

 Oregon north of the Rogue River Valley now properly belong under this 

 name. This owl is not seen by the average observer as frequently as the 

 Great Horned Owl; but it is equally common, and its quavering call is 

 one of the regular night sounds of spring and early summer. It is strictly 

 nocturnal, seldom moving voluntarily from its hiding place in a hollow 

 tree or in a dense foliage mass until well after sundown. There are excep- 

 tions to all rules, however, and occasionally we have found it hunting on 

 rainy winter days. Once on the Columbia River bottoms a Screech Owl 

 flew into a weed patch, remained a moment, and left again with a small 

 bird in its claws. It vanished behind a clump of low, deformed willows 

 where a little search revealed a likely looking hollow tree. Sure enough, 

 the owl was there and was unceremoniously hauled out for inspection 

 still clutching firmly a freshly killed song sparrow. The first record of 

 the bird from this territory seems to have been by Ridgway (1879). 

 Johnson (1880) listed it as a common breeding species of the Willamette 

 Valley, and Bendire (1891) stated that eggs were taken in Marion County, 

 July 13, 1883, and May 8, 1891. Since that time there have been numerous 

 records published and many specimens taken. 



California Screech Owl: 



Otus asio bendirei (Brewster) 



DESCRIPTION. Smaller than 0. a. brewsteri or 0. a. macfarlanei and paler than the 

 former, it is like other gray Screech Owls with heavy shaft streaks of black on both 

 the back and breast feathers and has somewhat inconspicuous cross-lining below. 

 (Adapted from Mrs. Bailey.) Si%e: Length 8.58, wing 6.35, tail 3.17, culmen .55. 

 Nest and eggs: As for other forms. 



