WAYS OF THE OWL. 193 



way in response to the hated call. So will blue 

 jays, and several of the hawks and woodpeckers, 

 hermit and Swainson's thrushes, chickadees, and 

 a few other small birds, including the siskins in 

 winter. Crows, in a particular region, soon learn 

 that a barred owl implies a man in the same 

 thicket, but for the first two or three times, hoot- 

 ing will surely call them within short range. 



Although game birds usually avoid the owl on 

 account of my presence, a grouse with a large 

 brood of young on one occasion showed much 

 courage in watching Puffy. Her chicks scat- 

 tered, but she remained in sight, whining and 

 trailing her wings and doing her best to entice 

 the owl away from the spot. Once she came 

 within ten paces of him, her tail spread like a 

 fan and her wings arched like an angry hen's. 

 Puffy paid little attention to her, but seemed to 

 be looking for the chicks which he had heard 

 stirring in the leaves. Whenever he hopped 

 she rushed into view, whining. She remained 

 near by during the whole of twenty minutes 

 that I spent in her domain. 



In July, 1891, Puffy had a face-to-face meet- 

 ing with a wild barred owl. Puffy was perched 

 upon a stump facing a hemlock forest. Sud- 

 denly he became rigid and assumed a very unu- 

 sual attitude for him, his head being thrust for- 

 ward and his body flattened so that his breast 



