THE FLAMMULATED SCREECH OWL. 375 



site, a Woodpecker's hole in a dead aspen, was about 10 feet from the ground 

 and the burrow about 10 inches deep. It contained three fresh eggs. The 

 female, which was in the hole, had to be removed by force, and in doing so 

 one of the eggs was broken; they were lying on a few chips and feathers from 

 the bird. 



"On June 4, I found a second nest about a mile from the former site and 

 in a similar situation, a ravine near water. This contained two fresh eggs and 

 an egg of a Flicker (Colaptes cafe)"). They were placed in a Woodpecker's hole 

 in a large aspen, about 8 feet from the ground and 10 inches below the aper- 

 ture, while about 6 feet above this was a nest of young Flickers. The cavity 

 appeared to have been formerly used by a squirrel and the eggs were deposited 

 on the old nesting material. It also contained a few Flicker's feathers. The 

 female clung tenaciously to her eggs. 



"On June 20, I found the third nest, but this time at a considerably 

 less altitude, probably at about 8,000 feet. It was in a pine tree in a Wood- 

 pecker's hole about 14 feet from the ground, and contained four partly 

 incubated eggs. On rapping on the tree the old bird flew out and perched 

 on a limb close by while I investigated the nest. This consisted of a few 



/ 



feathers in the bottom of the burrow, which was about 10 inches deep. The 

 bird's stomach contained the remnants of some small mammal. In none of 

 these cases did I see the males, although my son and I searched around the 

 vicinity of each nest thoroughly. I believe these birds are strictly nocturnal, 

 and consequently rarely seen." 



This set, with the female parent shot at the same time and purchased, 

 is now in the U. S. National Museum collection. The four eggs measure, 

 respectively, 29.5 by 25, 29 by 25.5, 28 by 25.5, and 28 by 25 millimetres. 



Mr. Evan Lewis found a set of three eggs of this species on June 7, 

 1890, near Idaho Springs, Clear Creek County, Colorado. The nesting site 

 was a Woodpecker's hole in a dead spruce tree about 15 feet from the ground, 

 the eggs lying on a few feathers. Elevation about 8,700 feet. These eggs 

 are now in the collection of Mr. Thomas H. Jackson, West Chester, Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



From what we know of the habits of the Flammulated Owl they seem 

 to vary but little from the other races of the Screech Owl family. They 

 are apparently strictly nocturnal, and their food consists of the smaller 

 mammals, as well as beetles and other insects. The stomach of a spec- 

 imen killed by Dr. C. Hart Merriam in the Grand Canon of the Colorado, 

 September 13, 1890, contained a scorpion, some beetles, and other insects. 



Three or four eggs are laid to a set, and in the southern Rocky Moun- 

 tain region in Colorado, the only locality where it has as yet been found 

 nesting, nidification begins either late in May or the first week in June, 

 but probably considerably earlier at less altitudes elsewhere in its range. 



