44 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[No. 7. 



Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea. Burrowing Owl. 



The burrowing owl was not met with in any great numbers east of tlie 

 Sierra Nevada in California or in Nevada. In the latter State several 

 were seen in Ash Meadows, and one was caught at the mouth of the 

 hole of a kangaroo rat (Dipodomys deserti) in Oasis Valley in March. 

 In California several were seen about badger holes at Daggett, on the 

 Mohave Desert, January 8-10; a few at Granite Wells January 15 

 and April 5, and a pair at Lone Willow Spring April 25. Mr. Bailey 

 saw a pair at Bennett Wells, in Death Valley, June 21. A pair was 

 seen in Coso Valley, below Maturango Spring, May 11. In Owens 

 Valley one was seen at Lone Pine June 11; a pair with young at Al- 

 vord June 26-29; one at Morans July 4-7, and a few at the head of the 

 valley, near the White Mountains, in July. Mr. Stephens saw it at va- 

 rious places in Salt Wells Valley, where it probably was breeding, May 

 1-5, and Mr. Bailey and the writer found it common at Indian Wells, 

 in the same valley, July 1. A pair was seen on the eastern slope of 

 Walker Pass July 1, where one was caught in a trap the following 

 morning. A number of times burrowing owls were caught in steel 

 traps set at the holes of badgers, foxes, spermophiles, and kangaroo 

 rats. 



Dr. Merriam and Mr. Palmer saw several pairs with full-grown 

 young in the upper part of the Canada de las Uvas and near Gorman 

 Station, at the west end of Antelope Valley, during the latter part of 

 June and the first week of July. They were living in the burrows of 

 Beechey's spermophile and were catching grasshoppers in the day- 

 time. They saw the species also at Caliente June 24, and in Teha- 

 chapi Valley June 25. At Bakersfield, in the San Joaquin Valley, and 

 on the dry plains between Bakersfield and Visalia it was abundant, 

 and as many as a dozen or fifteen were often in sight at once, perched 

 on the mounds in front of the burrows, or on the tops of the telegraph 

 poles. 



Mr. Nelson found it generally distributed in the lowlands bordering 

 the coast, between. San Simeon and Carpenteria. 



Record of specimens collected of Speotyto cunicularia hypogcea. 



Col- 

 lectors' 

 No. 



48 

 49 

 7 

 62 

 163 

 120 



31 



Sox. 



Locality. 



Daggett, Calif 



do 



do 



Granite Wells, Calif. 



Mojave, Calif 



Owens Valley, Calif. 

 Walker Pass, Calif. . 

 Oasis Valley, Nev . . . 



Date. 



Jan. 10,1891 



....do 



Feb. 7, 1S91 

 Jan. 15.1801 

 Sept. 9, 1891 

 June 20, 1891 

 July 2,1891 

 Mar. 15, 1891 



Collector. 



A.K.Fisher... 



....do 



F. Stephens 



A. K. Fisher . . . 



F. Stephens 



....do 



V.Bailey 



F. Stepliens 



Remarks. 



Mohave Desert. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 

 35 miles northeast. 



Geococcyx californianus. Road-runner. 



The road-runner or chaparral cock is tolerably common in many of 

 the desert and foothill regions visited by members of the expedition, but 



