104 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



THE SCREECH OWL 



Teacher's Story 

 "Disquiet yourselves not: 'Tis nothing but a little, downy owl." SHELLEY. 



Of all the fascinating 

 sounds to be heard at night 

 in the woods, the screech 

 owl's song is surely the 

 most so ; its fascination does 

 not depend on music but 

 upon the chills which it 

 sends up and down the 

 spine of the listener, thus 

 attacking a quite different 

 set of nerves than do other 

 songsters. The weird wail, 

 tremulous and long drawn 

 out, although so blood- 

 curdling, is from the stand- 

 point of the owlet the most 

 beautiful music in the 

 world; by means of it he 

 calls to his mate, cheering 

 her with the assurance 

 of his presence in the 

 world ; evidently she is not 

 a nervous creature. The 

 screech owls are likely to 

 sing at night during any 

 part of the year; nor should 

 we infer that when they are 

 singing they are not hunt- 

 ing, for perchance their music frightens their victims into fatal activ- 

 ity. Although the note is so unmistakable, yet there is great varia- 

 tion in the songs of individuals; the great variety of quavers in the 

 song offering ample opportunity for the expression of individuality. 

 Moreover, these owls often give themselves over to tremulous 

 whispering and they emphasize excitement by snapping their beaks in 

 an alarming manner. 



Any bird that is flying about and singing in the night time must be able 

 to see where it is going, and the owls have special adaptations for this. 

 The eyes are very large and the yellow iris opens and closes about the pupil 

 quite similar to the arrangement in the cat's eye, except that the pupil in 

 the owl's eye is round when contracted instead of elongated; in the night 

 this pupil is expanded until it covers most of the eye. The owl does not 

 need to see behind and at the sides, since it does not belong to the birds 

 which are the victims of other birds and animals of prey. The owl is a 

 bird that hunts instead of being hunted, and it needs only to focus its eyes 

 on the creature it is chasing. Thus, its eyes are in the front of the head 

 like our own; but it can see behind, in case of need, for the head turns 

 upon the neck as if it were fitted on a ball-bearing joint. I have often 



Screech owls 

 From Country Life in America. 



