OUR AMERICAN OWLS. 149 



inches. It is common South. A quaint and lively bird, its actions 

 look like antics, for it is an oddity, even among its own folks. His 

 portrait is that of a gay, unsuspecting fellow. He has queer ways 

 for an owl ; he is not sedate enough. In the deep woods, and in broad 

 daylight, when all owldom is abed, he will set up his comical half- 

 laugh, half-cry, " Whah ! whah ! whah-a-a-aa ! " which has in it some- 

 thing of the affectation of an exquisite. He is the dandy-owl as he 

 has been called the buffoon of the woods. 



A much graver person, and the giant of American owls, is the 

 great gray owl {S. cinerium, Aud.). His length is thirty inches. The 

 cry is not unlike that of the mottled owl. The bird is common in 

 Canada, and has been shot in New Jersev. 



Fig. 6. The Barred Owl (Syrnium nebuloium). 



As representing the gray owls well, we must instance the brown 

 or tawny owl, so called in England, although its upper parts are ashen 

 gray {see Fig. 7) {S. aluco, Linn.). This bird is found in Great Britain, 

 on the Continent, and in Japan. It is only some fifteen inches long, 

 and of retiring habits, as it loves the deep, dark woods, which it will 

 make ring with its dolorous, wolf-like cry of " Hoo ! hoo ! hoo ! " It 

 is an indiscriminate feeder, regaling itself on slugs, insects, small 

 quadrupeds, birds, and fish. And it is quite a clever fisherman in 

 its way, having been known to carry a pound-weight trout to its young. 

 Its mode of angling is to stand stock-still, and patiently, on a protrud- 

 ing stone in a rippling stream, and, when an unsuspicious swimmer 

 comes along, to invest five talons promptly, and take the venture out 

 in fish. 



In this group belongs the genus Nyctale^ which contains the pretty 

 little saw-whet, or Acadian owl {Nyctale Acadice, Bonap.). This is the 

 smallest owl in the Eastern and Middle States, being but eight indies 

 long. Its cry is said to resemble the filing or whetting of the teeth 



