200 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



aging about two minutes apart during most of the day to sup- 

 ply them with food and so stop their gaping mouths. In the 

 meantime another brood was being reared by another pair of 

 birds in a box in the apple tree, some two rods away. 



In 1904 an attempt was made to provide a dwelling place 

 for the screech owls that occasionally were heard in the grove 

 near by. These birds are believed to feed mainly on insects, 

 mice, and other so-called vermin. A box, similar to the one 

 in the illustration, was put up in a large pine tree about four 

 rods south of the house. It w'as not occupied that season, but 

 the next winter an owl visited it occasionally, and, as spring 

 approached, a small gray owl might be seen some evenings at 

 sunset, sitting in the doorway and solemnly looking over its 

 hunting ground. The jays, robins, and chickadees soon learned 

 the secret of the box and told it so that all the world might 

 hear. A little later sticks, straws, and other rubbish might be 

 seen protruding from the opening. Late in April I ascended 

 the tree and found the little owl sitting upon her eggs. Soon 

 the white, downy young appeared, and then the lining of the 

 nest was embellished with the wing and tail feathers of several 

 blue jays, one robin, and one red-winged blackbird. Otherwise, 

 however, the owls did not appear to trouble the smaller birds, 

 but rather protected them by killing the blue jays which form- 

 erly ate their eggs. I believe that rather more small birds than- 

 usual reared young in the neighborhood, although fewer chick- 

 adees were seen the following winter. The owls reject the in- 

 digestible portions of their food, which are thrown out through 

 the mouth, and may be found upon the ground about their 

 nests or roosts, in the shape of pellets, composed mainly of 

 bones wrapped up in fur or feathers. In order to determine 

 the character of their food, I gathered all the pellets that could 

 be found, and in only one instance were there any remnants 

 of a bird (a robin, of which we have a surplus). On the other 

 hand, there were found the bones of deer mice, wood mice, 

 field mice, and mole shrews, the remains of from one to three 

 of these little animals being found in each pellet. While this 

 experiment has not yet progressed far enough to prove that the 

 owls are desirable tenants, it seems probable that they much 

 more than pay their rent. Five young were raised to maturity 

 last year and sent out into the world to earn their living, as 

 their parents did before them. 



