412 



LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Woodpeckers in trees and giant cactus, or in the densest thickets in the creek 

 bottoms. I first met with the Elf Owl -in April, 1872, my attention being 

 drawn to it by its peculiar call notes, resembling the syllables "cha-cha, 

 cha-cha," frequently repeated in different keys, sometimes quite distinct and 

 again so low that they could not be heard more than 20 yards off. Although 

 uttered in a rather tremulous tone there is nothing unpleasant in the sound, in 

 fact it is rather the reverse. They become active shortly after sundown 

 and were prohahlv attracted to the vicinity of my camp by the guard fire, 

 which was usually kept up all night. This also attracted numerous insects, 

 on which these little fellows feed to a great extent. 



On April 20, 1872, while pushing my way through a dense mass of 

 willows in the Rillitto Creek bottom, I saw one of them perched in the thicket 

 and shot it. Although I had made considerable noise, it allowed me to 

 approach quite close and did not seem to be disturbed by my intrusion into 

 its retreat. I took several others subsequently, most of them shortly after 

 sundown, by carefully watching for the point from which they uttered their 

 call notes. When they find themselves observed they sit quite erect and 

 perfectly motionless, and may in such a position be easily mistaken for a 

 part of the limb on which they are perched. 



Mr. William Brewster published the following notes made by Mr. F. 

 Stephens, while collecting for him in 1882. Referring to this species, lie says: 

 "I was walking past an elder bush in a thicket when a small bird started out. 

 Thinking it had flown from its nest, I stopped and began examining the bush, 

 when I discovered a Whitney's Owl sitting on a branch with its side toward 

 me and one wing held up, shield fashion, before its face. I could just see its 

 eyes over the wing, and had it kept them shut I might have overlooked it, as 

 they first attracted my attention. It had drawn itself into the smallest possible 

 compass so that its head formed the widest part of its outline. I moved around 

 a little to get a better chance to shoot, as the bush was very thick, but whichever 

 way I went the wing was always interposed, and when I retreated far enough 

 tor a fair shot, I could not tell the bird from the surrounding bunches of leaves. 

 At length, losing patience, I fired at random and it fell. Upon going to pick it 

 up I was surprised to find another which I had not seen before, and which must 

 have been struck by a stray shot. Rather curiously both these specimens 

 proved to be adult males. It is by no means positive, however, that the males 

 are not, to a certain extent, gregarious during the breeding season, for on 

 another occasion two more were killed from a flock of five which were sitting 

 together in a thick bush. They had several different call notes, one of which 

 sounded like the syllable 'churp,' while another was a low 'tro-jur-rrr.' These 

 cri.-s were heard at all times of the night, but more often in the early evening 

 and again at davbreak." 1 



Mr. Herbert Brown writes me from Tucson, Arizona, as follows: "Their 

 food consists largely of ants and beetles. I have examined more than a 



1 Bulletin Niittall Ornithological Club, Vol. vin, 1883, p. 28. 



