[344] BIRDS OF OREGON 



THE LITTLE GRAY Rocky Mountain Pygmy Owl is easily distinguished 

 from the browner forms found to the west, as it is entirely lacking in any 

 brown wash on the plumage. We regard it as rather rare in this State, 

 although there are seven Oregon specimens available for examination. 

 Like the other races, owls of this species are usually seen sitting motion- 

 less on a limb at the top of a small tree. Though more or less diurnal in 

 habit, they are most frequently seen on cloudy days or late in the after- 

 noon. In habits and general behavior, they do not differ materially from 

 the better-known subspecies. 



The only published reference to this little owl as an Oregon bird was 

 Gabrielson's (192^) recording of Jewett's Wallowa County specimen, 

 taken in the town of Wallowa, February 2.8, 1919, on the first field trip 

 the writers made together. Bendire (1877), however, recorded under the 

 name G. g. calif ornicum a bird taken at Camp Harney in 1875 ^at should 

 be referred to this subspecies as it is now understood. 



Coast Pigmy Owl: 



Glaucidium gnoma grinnelli Ridgway 



DESCRIPTION. Like the California Pygmy Owl but much browner, particularly on 

 the back. Si%e: About size of G. g. californicum. Nest: Old woodpecker holes or 

 other excavations in stumps and trees. Eggs: About 4, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Pacific Coast district from southeastern Alaska to Mon- 

 terey, California, and east to interior valleys. In Oregon: Found in all coast counties 

 and coast mountains. (See Figure 8.) 



THE RECORDS of the various subspecies of these little owls in Oregon are 

 much confused. Townsend (1839) listed it as "found in the territory of 

 Oregon, ' ' but the lack of locality records makes it impossible to say which 

 subspecies is meant. The first published record that is undoubtedly 

 referable to this form is by Woodcock (1901), who listed it from Yaquina 

 Bay on Bretherton's report. Walker (192.4) listed a specimen taken at 

 Blaine, Tillamook County, on November 12., 1919, and Gabrielson (192^) 

 listed two specimens from Netarts in the Jewett collection. So far as we 

 are able to learn, the remaining published records refer to the California 

 Pygmy Owl. 



We have had a total of 41 skins to use in working out the range of 

 these little owls in this State. The birds of the Coast Mountains and 

 coastal strip, with the single exception of a fall specimen from Netarts, 

 are of this form. Birds from Portland are clearly of this form, as is a 

 single bird from Roseburg (March 2.5). On the other hand, late March 

 birds from Eugene and many skins from Douglas County are clearly G. g. 

 californicum. We have no skins from the Willamette Valley, which is 

 undoubtedly the meeting place of these two subspecies. In our own col- 

 lections, skins from Curry, Douglas, Lincoln, Lane (coast slope), and 



