364 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



slopes of the Rocky Mountains, from central Colorado, in the vicinity of Colo- 

 rado Springs, where it is believed to be a winter visitor only, to the northern 

 parts of the State, in Boulder and Larimer Counties, where it is known to 

 breed, rarely, however, reaching a greater altitude than 6,000 feet; and also 

 near Fort Custer, in southeastern Montana, where I first met with it in the 

 winter of 1884-85, and which point, I believe, still marks the northern 

 boundary of its known range. 



As Screech Owls are usually residents wherever found, rarely straggling 

 to any great distance from their summer ranges, it is reasonable to presume 

 that this subspecies breeds more or less commonly along the lower foothills 

 and plains of the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, as well as along 

 the outlying spurs of the same, ranging from the eastern portions of northern 

 Colorado through similar localities in Wyoming, north to southeastern Mon- 

 tana (Fort Custer), and possibly still farther in this direction. It is also likely 

 to be found in the extreme northwestern parts of Nebraska, but it is doubtful 

 whether it occurs on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. As yet it 

 has only been found breeding in northern Colorado, where it seems to be 

 tolerably common in suitable localities. 



The following notes on the Rocky Mountain Screech Owl are taken from 

 an article recently published by me: 



"The credit of the discovery of the nest and egg of this race, the hand- 

 somest of the genus Megascops, belongs, I believe, to Mr. A. W. Anthony, one 

 of our younger and most energetic naturalists, who has done excellent work 

 in this line, as well as in other branches of natural history, in various por- 

 tions of the West, and has generously donated through the writer a number of 

 his rarest and most interesting specimens to the U. S. National Museum collec- 

 tion at Washington. He writes me as follows regarding this species: 'On 

 May 4, 1883, while collecting on the Platte River, about 6 miles from Denver, 

 Colorado, my attention was attracted by the hammering of a Red-shafted 

 Flicker, and pushing my way through a very thick growth of willows and 

 small cottonwoods, I found the bird at work on one of the latter, where he 

 was excavating a nesting site. The tree was a very large one; its top had 

 been partly broken off about 12 feet up, blown over, and some of its limbs 

 rested on the ground. As I climbed up via the leaning top to the Colaptes 

 burrow, which was located in that part of the trunk of the tree still standing 

 upright, a Rocky Mountain Screech Owl flew out from a knot hole not before 

 noticed and dashed almost in my face, lit on a tree within 6 feet of me, and, 

 after staring at me in amazement for a few minutes, dropped down and out 

 of sight in the dense undergrowth in the neighborhood. The two burrows 

 were about 4 feet apart, nearly on a level with each other, but on opposite 

 sides of the tree.' 



"The Owl's nest was in an old knot hole about 15 inches in length, and 

 judging from a rough sketch sent me by Mr. Anthony at the time, the base 

 of the nest was almost on a level with the entrance. It contained three 



