yORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



247 



owls, gophers and rattlesnakes dwell together in harmony. The Owls choose aban- 

 doned burrows, and lf,a snake or quadruped enters, it is only by accident or for the 

 purpose of devouring the unsuspicious Owls. In Dakota and other regions as many 

 as twenty of these birds may be found nestling together in one hole, at which time 

 they are well supplied with food, such as mice, shore larks, etc. In some localities 

 the nesting place is lined with fine weed-stalks, feathers, bits of skin, etc., as Mr. 

 Fred Corey informs me is the case in 

 the vicinity of Santa Paula, Cal. The 

 late Major Charles E. Bendire says he 

 never found any other material in the 

 cavity occupied by the nest than 

 broken pieces of horse or cow dung, in 

 the State of Washington. Around the 

 outside may be found bits of skins of 

 gophers, rats, mice, and ears of small 

 rabbits. The eggs ar^ pure glossy 

 white, nearly round, although in a 

 large series any shape may be found, 

 from globular to pyriform. The num- 

 ber laid varies from four to ten, usually 

 six or eight. Professor Evermann has 

 a set of eleven which he collected near 

 Santa Paula, Cal., Apri] 14, 1881, and 

 Major Bendire records an extraordin- 

 ary set of twelve, taken by Mr. Walter 



E. Bryant, near Carson, Nevada. The average size given by Major Bendire m a 

 series of two hundred and iifty specimens is 1.24x1.03; the smallest 1.17x.97, the 

 largest 1.35x1.09. 



378. BuKHowiNG Owl (Alter Fisher). 



378a. FLORIDA BtrREOWINQ OWL. Speoiyto vuiiivulaifiu floridaita Ridgw. 

 Geog. Dist. — Florida and adjacent Bahama Islands. 



A smaller local race of Florida, having the lower parts of its plumage nearly 

 pure white. In some places in Florida colonies of these birds are quite common, 

 nesting in the same manner as S. ciinicularia liypOjfaHt. Four eggs from Southern 

 Manatee county, Florida, taken April 10, 1885, measure, 1.24x1.05, 1.23x1.02, 1.22x1.02, 

 1.25x1.05. 



379. PYGMY OWL. Glaiuidium ifnomtt Wagl. Geog. Dist.— Western North 

 America in mountainous regions from British Columbia to eastern slopes of the 

 Rocky Mountains, and south to the tablelands of Mexico. 



The breeding range of this little owl extends, as far as known, through the tim- 

 bered regions of Western North America, from the Southern Rocky Mountains in 

 Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona westward to Eastern California, Eastern Oregon 

 and Eastern Washington; north into Eastern British Columbia, . and south into 

 Mexico. From their very small size and unobtrusive habits they are likely to be 

 overlooked. The Pygmy Owl feeds upon insects and the smaller rodents, which it 

 hunts by day as well as by night. Its flight is described as short, quick and jerky, 

 similar to that of the Sparrow Hawk. Comparatively little has been written regard- 

 ing the nesting and eggs of this bird. There is no roason to believe that the habits 

 and eggs of this bird differ from those of the Cr.HfoinIa Pygmy Owl. 



