50 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 9 



occurrence would be mere guess work. I have heard the call of this bird within 

 the city on one or two occasions, and Mr. Grinnell tells me that this species was 

 one of the four owls that he heard along the San Joaquin River near Lane's 

 Bridge the second week in April, 191 1. 



As the Screech OKvl keeps so closely concealed during the daylight hours it 

 might be easily overlooked. At any rate I have actually seen one of these birds 

 only once, and that one had been routed out and was being mobbed by half a 

 dozen angry mockers. It was the nth day of August, 1906, when I heard such 

 an uproar and scolding as to attract more than casual attention. I was working 

 in a peach orchard about three miles east of Clovis, and as something out of the 

 ordinary seemed to be going on I lost no time in investigating. The mocking- 

 birds were flying into, over, and around a thick-foliaged tree in which a Screech 

 Owl sat blinking and staring. When I was within about ten feet of the tree the 

 owl flapped out and flew across the orchard with its tormentors in full pursuit, 



Two days later some boys told me of shooting a small owl that they had 

 found in a tray shed near the orchard. The next day, upon investigation, 1 

 found what was, no doubt, the same Screech Owl that I had previously seen. 

 The appearance of the shed seemed to indicate that he had spent several days 

 there. 



Pacific Horned Owl. Bubo virginianus pacificus Cassin. 



Nearly everyone who has lived near the wooded sections of Fresno County 

 has heard the voice of this, our largest owl, and it is known, often, by no other 

 name than "hoot owl." Formerly not uncommon, these big birds are rapidly be- 

 coming rare, as they must have hunting grounds that have not been rendered 

 barren by man and his plow. 



These great owls are possessed of appetites that, seemingly, are seldom 

 entirely satisfied. Tt may thus be hunger that often drives the Horned Owl forth 

 on his foraging expeditions long before darkness has made it safe for the timid 

 field mice to venture forth, and at times even before the sun has drojDped below 

 the western rim of the valley. December 28, 1904, just before sundown, a 

 Horned Owl flew over an alfalfa patch near Clovis, and was not in the least con- 

 fused by the glare of the setting sun. He made a swoop at a horned lark and 

 then passed on. 



A chance pair of these birds may still be found along Dry Creek east of 

 Clovis, but the only places in the valley where they are at all common is along 

 some of the large sloughs in the vicinity of Wheatville, and possibly in the oaks 

 to the south and east of that place. They are often heard along the San Joaquin 

 River also, but each year become less in evidence. 



While camping near New Hope in the early winter of 1904 I was awakened 

 just before daylight on the morning of November 30 by a pair of Horned Owls 

 that were giving a concert nearby. One of the birds had a rather weak, feminine 

 voice, peculiar in that it always ended with an extra "hoot" that was given after 

 the bird had apparently finished its call. It sounded like "hoot, ta-whoo, who 

 who — hoot," the last note being not quite so loud but almost as distinct as the 

 others. The other bird seemed to be stationed a short distance from its com- 

 panion, and always answered in a deep, heavy, bass voice, sometimes before the 

 first one had finished. 



