190 HORNED OWLS, ETC. 



rattlesnakes are evidently attracted to the towns by the supply of 

 tender spring dogs, and it has been suspected that the badgers relish 

 a young owl for breakfast. The owls have been accused of joining 

 in the neighborly round-robin feast and partaking of the young 

 dogs, but, although they eat squirrels and mice in spring and fall, 

 they live for the most part on grasshoppers and crickets. They 

 hunt mainly in the evening and at night, but are often seen catching 

 grasshoppers in the daytime. 



GENUS GLAUCIDIUM. 



General Characters. Wing 3.50-4.40 ; head without ear tufts ; ear 

 opening's small, without anterior flap, the two ears alike ; nostril small, cir- 

 cular, opening near the middle of the inflated cere ; tarsus not longer than 

 middle toe, densely feathered ; tail more than half as long as wing, 

 rounded. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Sides plain brown, unspotted phalaenoides, p. 191. 



1'. Sides more or less spotted. 



2. Back grayer gnoma, p. 190. 



2'. Back browner calif ornicum, p. 191. 



379. Glaucidium gnoma Wagl PYGMY OWL. 



Adults. Very small, under parts white, thickly streaked with dark 

 brown ; sides brownish, indistinctly spotted with lighter ; upper parts dark 

 slaty gray, olive brown, or dark rusty brown ; 

 head specked with white ; tail blackish or 

 brownish, barred with white. Young: like adult, 



but top of head plain gray. Length : 6.50-7.50, 



F . ^ wing 3.40-4.00, tail 2.40-2.80. 



Distribution. Timbered mountain regions 



of western North America from British Columbia south through Sierra 

 Madre of Mexico, except along the humid Pacific coast region. 



Nest. As far as known, in old woodpecker holes and hollow stubs from 

 8 to 20 feet from the ground. Eggs : usually 4, white. 



Food. Mainly insects, especially grasshoppers ; but also mice and 

 lizards. 



"This little owl is diurnal in its habits, feeding and flying about 

 in the bright sunshine, though it is more common in the early dusk 

 and morning. Mr. Henshaw says it is fond of taking its station 

 early in the morning on the top of an old stub, that it may enjoy 

 the warmth of the sun's rays. In most places it is more or less soli- 

 tary, though in New Mexico Mr. Henshaw found it extremely socia- 

 ble, and in the fall it was usually met with in companies. 

 ' " It is tame and unsuspicious and may be decoyed from a consid- 

 erable distance by imitating its call-note, to which it responds at 

 once. It is confined mostly to wooded districts, though occasion- 

 ally it is found some distance from timber. It hides in the pines or 



