The Spotted Owl 



have blundered upon, all in a shady dell, unfre- 

 quented of men. There is no need for anxiety. 

 The bird is mildly curious himself, and not 

 in the least alarmed. His aspect is anything 

 but ferocious — benevolent, rather — and 

 he looks for all the world like some 

 patriarchal gnome disturbed at his 

 slumbers, yet not resentful. We vote 

 him handsome at the first breath, and 

 admiration grows as we dwell upon 

 the sleekness, the mellow rotundity, / 

 and the exquisite harmony of the 

 figure, and especially of the costume 

 before us. Spotting suggests the 

 conspicuous, and this bird is spotted 

 with white from head to foot, on a 

 background the deepest of wood- 

 browns; and yet the pattern blends 

 in so perfectly, is so essential a part 

 of the checkered sunlight falling upon 

 branch and leaf beside him, that we 

 say, "Why, of course. How could 

 he be any different?" Whereas, an 

 object merely brown or merely white 

 would stand out here like a sore 

 thumb, this camouflaged statuette 

 almost disappears under the searching 

 eye. We must circle about him to 

 coax an inclination of the head, or a 

 tell-tale movement of the foot. Now 

 and again the benignant creature winks 

 prodigiously, and the ladies with us 

 shriek with laughter. Silly things! The 

 bird is not winking at them. He was up 

 late last night and the sun hurts his eyes, 

 that's all. 



Our knowledge of the Spotted Owl is chiefly derived from two accounts 

 of their nesting which have appeared in the columns of the "Condor." 

 The first of these, by Mr. Lawrence Peyton, 1 tells of the discovery, in 

 1908, of a nest situated in Castaic Canyon, in a hole on the face of a 

 perpendicular granite cliff, and at a point about fifteen feet up. From 



Condor. Vol. XII., July, 1910, pp. 122, 123. 



„-.-■> 



i 



Taken in Los Angeles County 



From a photograph. Copyright 1921, 



by Wright M. Pierce 



THE BIRD IS MILDLY CURIOUS HIMSELF 



iogi 



