280 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



incidents of Screech Owls having thus been found by others. 

 Several times in pellets, probably of this owl, found in the woods 

 near New Haven, the author has noticed feathers of Screech and 

 Saw-whet Owls, and once found the latter in the stomach of a 

 Barred Owl. Of 109 stomachs reported by Dr. Fisher, 5 con- 

 tained poultry or game; 13, other birds; 46, mice; 18, other 

 mammals; 4, frogs; 1. a lizard; 2, fish; 14, insects; 2, spiders; 

 9, crawfish ; and 20 were empty. Of 8 stomachs examined by 

 Dr. Warren, 4 contained mice; 2, other mammals; 2, poultry; 

 2, other birds ; and 4, beetles. Of 14 examined by the author, 

 7 were empty ; 6 contained mammals — mice and squirrels ; and 

 1, a Saw-whet Owl. 



The Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeiis) is with us only in 

 the fall and early spring, when it inhabits our marshes. The 

 chief food of this bird is mice, and there are many accounts of 

 the manner in which these owls have flocked to the infested dis- 

 trict, when different parts of Europe have suffered with plagues 

 of these animals. Of 101 stomachs reported by Dr. Fisher, 11 

 contained small birds ; 77, mice ; 7, other mammals ; 7, insects ; 

 and 14 were empty. Of 11 stomachs reported by Dr. Warren, all 

 contained mice; and 2, beetles. Three stomachs examined by 

 the author in Alaska contained either mice or shrews ; and one 

 examined by Mr. E. T. Judd in North Dakota contained a mouse 

 and grasshoppers. 



But there is another side to this picture that should not be 

 forgotten, useful on the whole as the Short-eared Owl must be 

 considered. One stomach of a California bird examined by the 

 author contained a blackbird ; and the stomachs of four Con- 

 necticut birds held only birds, including a Meadowlark and spar- 

 rows ; while at the spots these owls frequent on our salt marshes 

 he has found many evidences of their destructiveness to birds, 

 including once feathers of a Yellow Rail, and pellets containing 

 those of the Meadowlark, Robin, and Towhee. Another serious 

 deviation from a mice diet has been reported by Mr. William 

 Brewster (Bulletin Nuttall Ornithological Club, Vol. 4, 1879, 

 p. 19). He found in June, 1870, a small colony of these owls 

 living among the terns of Muskeget Island, and noticed in the 

 grass of their retreat the remains of at least 100 terns that they 

 had killed. The breast onlv had been eaten in each instance. 



