BIRDS OF PREY 171 



373 c. CALIFORNIA SCREECH OWL. — Otus asio 

 bendirei. 



Family : The Horned Owls and Hoot Owls. 



Length: 10.00. 



Adults : Eav-tufts conspicuous, about an inch in length ; upper part.s 

 brownish gray, heavily streaked with black or dusky ; under parts 

 grayish, with heavy streaks and indistinct cross lines of black. 



Young: Plumage barred grayish and whitish. 



Downy Young : Covered with a pure white cottony down. 



Geographical Distribution: Throughout California. 



Breeding Range : In wooded distiicts throughout the State. 



Breeding Season : March to June. 



Nest : A cavity in a tree, usually oak or Cottonwood. 



£!ggs: 3 or 4 ; white. Size 1.40 X 1.17. 



This bird may be known by its small size and con- 

 spicuous ear-tufts. It breeds commonly throughout 

 California. On June 15 one was seen going into a 

 red-shafted flicker excavation, eighteen feet from the 

 ground, in an old stump near Santa Cruz. An investi- 

 gation showed five eggs, three of which were the flicker's. 

 The Owl had evidently driven off" the flicker and taken 

 possession of the nest, and was brooding all the eggs 

 indiscriminately. Curious to know how it would come 

 out, I hired a boy to watch it. On Juno 17 the flicker 

 eggs evidently had hatched, for every trace of their con- 

 tents had disappeared, but the Owl's eggs were still there. 

 Seven days later they hatched, and two funny Owlets 

 thickly covered with white down were the result. In 

 order to look at them it was necessary to drive the 

 mother from the cavity by rapping on the tree with a 

 heavy rod, and even then she would not readily go. All 



