Marshall, 1938 6. Otus flammeolus 1 1/8 mi.S Whitakers Forest on 5500 ft. contour (Forest Service Map of Eshom Cr. Unit),10 mi. NE Badger,Tulare Co.,Calif. June 3 Burned over timber,very dense stand young firs & cedars.Heard faint hooting at dusk.Took 45 min. to trace todense, tall grove on flat,1 low gnd.Dark;new moon.Hooting in 4 sec intervals sparodic & very soft.Hard to approach;bird would fly when I hooted.Alternated series of boop, boop,etc.,with boot-oop,boop as deacribed before Two heard at same time.One gotten close to : peculiar modification of its single call after I gave calls near it .(perhaps due to approach of silent female an d not my presence.) Call changed to throaty,rushing sound,tone almost lost. I moved up hill,calling .Bird went ahead from one dense high clump to the next.Stayed within one cl-ump surrounding a black oak & now called in earnest.(Aroused,or in own territory? -hence retreat from first locality. ) Began to call more rapidly,then changed to breathy sound. Another answered in same tree (presumably female)-and was shot when I noticed its pinkish eyeshine as it sat on a high,dead cedar branch in the interior of the clump.(All branches bare in the shaded interiors of these clumps hence more chance of locating birds from with- in.)The bird shot was lower in the tree than was the original occupant .Male # 410. First, probably a male also (hence breathy call a territorial reaction to another male) called in earnest,and was made bolder by curiosity as I called at the base of his tree clump/ Alight- ed in open parts of Black Oak.Seen several times too close to shoot.Saw pinkish eyeshine.Silence before & after a swift rush of wings:probably a larger owl making an attempt to catch itte* the Otus. Flew from perch to perch around me untill its interest waned. Several times flew very close.Couldn't see but could hear slight rush of wings. Commonness - Status of "rare Birds"- Maintenance of minimum population to permit survival means even distribution in a sedentary