Sept. , 1909 
SOME OWES ALONG THE GILA RIVER IN ARIZONA 
149 
Woodpecker hole some seven feet up in a palo verde tree. Wishing to capture Mrs. 
Pigmy if she were at home I softly crept to the tree and stept up on a low branch 
in order to reach the hole. At the first noise the bird attempted to leave, but a 
hand clapt over the hole stopt her. A big handkerchief was thrust down the 
hole while I enlarged it sufficiently to insert my hand and arm. When my hand 
reached the bottom I thought it was in contact with a live wire, and I was abso- 
lutely sure I had “grabbed a live one.’’ 
When the hand was withdrawn the owl came along quite easily. One claw 
was thru the nail of my little finger, another imbedded in big finger, while her beak 
was thrust deep into my thumb. Blood was running from all three wounds, and 
the bird hung on like a bulldog. It took no little diplomacy to remove her without 
forming an entangling alliance with the other hand, but she was finally safe in a 
handkerchief. I wall back one of these owls in a rough and tumble fight with any- 
adult pair of elf owls 
thing twice the size. The nest contained one egg, a small matter to put up such a 
big fight about. 
A cage was provided for Lady Bite- ’em, and experiments in diet began. She 
freely ate the bodies of small birds collected, and was properly patriotic in that she 
showed a savage delight in assimilating English Sparrows. I kept her about six 
weeks and her appetite improved all the time, any small fry being grist for her mill. 
She usually began eating at the head, and while she ate freely in the daytime, she 
disliked being watcht at her meals. I handled her frequently, at first with gloves 
on, in order to prepare her for a photograph. She objected to posing, but after 
some difficulty a picture was secured by Mr. E. W. Hudson, in charge of the U. S. 
Experiment Station here at Sacaton. When I releast her, she made off at once, 
her powers of flight not at all impaired by the weeks of captivitj^. 
The tiny Elf Owl by reason of his strictly nocturnal habits is rarely seen. My 
