170 THE AMERICAN MOTTLED OWL. 



table ; which, by comparison, at once settled the dispute beyond a shadow of 

 doubt. 



It appears, however, that Catesby and Wilson were in error, in describing 

 and figuring the Little Common Screech and the Mottled Owl as distinct 

 birds ; Audubon having since clearly ascertained that they are the same bird, 

 but in different plumage. On reference to Audubon's American Ornitho- 

 logical Biography, published 1831, at page 486, he says: "You are presented 

 with three figures of this species, the better to show you the differences 

 which exist between the young and the full-grown bird. The contrast of 

 colouring in these different stages I have thought it necessary to exhibit, as 

 the Red Owl of Wilson, and other naturalists, is merely the young of the 

 bird called by the same authors the Mottled Owl ; and which, in fact, is the 

 adult of the species under consideration. The error committed by the 

 author of the American Ornithology, for many years misled all subsequent 

 students of nature : and the specific identity of the two birds which he 

 had described as distinct under the above names, was first publicly main- 

 tained by my friend Charles Lucian Bonaparte ; although the fact was long 

 before known to many individuals with whom I was acquainted, as well as to 

 myself. 



" The flight of the Mottled Owl is smooth, rapid, protracted, and noiseless. 

 It rises, at times, above the top branches of the highest of our forest trees, 

 whilst in pursuit of large beetles ; and at other times sails low and swiftly 

 over the fields, or through the woods, in search of small birds, field-mice, 

 and moles, from w^hich it chiefly derives its subsistence. 



" On alighting, which it does plumply, the Mottled Owl immediately bends 

 its body, turns its head to look behind it, performs a curious nod, utters 

 its notes, then shakes and plumes itself, and resumes its flight in search of 

 prey. It now and then, while on wing, produces a cliching sound with its 

 mandibles, but more frequently when perched near its mate or young. This, 

 I have thought, is done by the bird to manifest its courage, and let the 

 hearer know that it is not to be meddled" with ; although few birds of prey 

 are more gentle when seized, as it will suffer a person to touch its feathers 

 and caress it, without attempting to bite or strike with its talons, unless at 

 intervals. I carried one of the young birds represented in the plate, in my 

 coat-pocket, from Philadelphia to New York, travelling alternately by water 

 and land. It remained generally quiet, fed from the hand, and never at- 

 tempted to escape. The notes of this Owl are uttered in a tremulous, 

 doleful manner, and somewhat resemble the chattering of the teeth of a 

 person under the influence of extreme cold, although much louder. They 

 are heard at a distance of several hundred yards, and by some people are 

 thought to be of ominous import. The little fellow is generally found about 

 farm-houses, orchards, and gardens. It alights on the roof, the fence, or the 

 garden gate, and utters its mournful ditty at intervals for hours at a time, as 



