ORNITHOLOGY 



317 



property, and willing that the other fel- 

 low should do the moving". There was 

 considerable argument and agitation for 

 some time, the result being that the squir- 

 rels rejected both boxes and became only 

 morning visitors for nuts. 



The owl was a rather irregular occu- 

 pant of this box till warm weather came, 

 but sometime in the fall he moved to a 

 hole that I made in the peak of the barn. 

 Behind it I placed a deep, narrow box 

 with sawdust and shavings at the bottom, 

 and an opening only at the entrance hole. 

 Outside, just below the hole, was a little 

 shelf. This caught the morning light and 

 held the sun all day till nearly mid-after- 

 noon and could be clearly seen from one 

 of our windows. The owl has lived there 

 ever since, although sometimes absent for 

 a day, or for several consecutive days. 



I have learned from this owl some- 

 thing that I did not know, and have 

 never seen in print — that owls do not 

 necessarily dislike daylight nor even sun- 

 shine, provided their eyes are not much 

 exposed . I had thought that an owl 

 always hides himself in darkness or in 

 deep shadow, and remains silent and still 

 in the daytime, although I had heard a 

 great horned owl utter his hoarse hoot, 

 like the bark of a big dog, in mid-after- 

 noon, in the cypress swamps of Florida. 



In my journal for March 26, 1914, I 

 have this note concerning my little owl : 

 "One evening, before sunset, his head 

 stuck out of the hole of a squirrel house 

 on my hickory tree, facing the sun which 

 shone brightly on his face, the eyes being 

 apparently closed. Hearing me, he drew 

 his head slowly in, one eye opening so it 

 shone glassy in the sun which was right 

 on it. Yesterday he sat in the little 

 pigeon window hole of the pump house 

 for hours, nearly all the afternoon in fact, 

 facing southeast, and did not go away 

 though I often walked near or just below 

 him. He would shrink a little sometimes, 

 or turn his head to follow me, but often 

 did not visibly move. He looked like a 

 bit of rotten stump set up there in the 

 shadow. Though visible for hours, full 

 length, none of the birds feasting on my 

 suet, about thirty yards in front of him, 

 saw him." 



On April 27, 1914: "The little owl got 

 into the west window of the barn to-dav 

 and hooted his bubbling note at 2 130 

 P. M. The sky was dull and overcast, 

 still the sun was almost out. He shrank 



into a shapeless stump when 1 looked at 

 him, but did not attempt to fly. I had 

 never previously heard a screech owl hoot 

 in the daytime at this season of the year." 



The last sentence refers to the fact that 

 I once heard a screech owl give a little 

 hoot on a dull day in January. 



On January 22, 1915. "The little 

 screech owl has this winter taken up his 

 abode in the box that I put for him behind 

 the hole in the peak of the barn. Some- 

 times he is absent for a day, or for several 

 days, but always returns. Once or twice 

 the blue jays mobbed him. At first this 

 drove him in, but later he stood his 

 ground in grim contempt and dangerous 

 vigilance and they did not quite dare to 

 close with him. He likes especially to sit 



outside on a shelf all day long in 



the winter sunshine, his eyes apparently 

 closed or opening as narrow slits when 

 disturbed. Through the glass I have dis- 

 tinctly seen the sun glint on the half 

 open eye."' 



I do not share in the usual dislike of 

 the screech owl's song. On the contrary. 

 I love it. I find it expressive. At times 

 it is fierce or sad, or it may be tender and 

 musical. It is like a flower of the night. 



The Hovering Instinct. 



BY JOSEPH W.LIPPIXCOTT, BETHAYRES, PA. 



I once saw a sparrow hawk hover over 

 a grass patch and then dart upon a small 

 garter snake which, instead of being 

 directly beneath him. was fully fifteen 

 yards further up the field. Alice I have 

 seen captured nearly as far ahead and in- 

 sects at various distances, but sometimes 

 almost straight below the hovering point. 



It would seem therefore that the little 

 hawk's eyes instead of concentrating on 

 one spot, thus making a fixed position for 

 hovering more easy, are searching the 

 ground near and far while some strange 

 force keeps his body exactly stationary 

 regardless of ordinary winds. It is much 

 the same with the humming bird and the 

 king fisher ; indeed many birds, even the 

 English sparrow, the crested flycatcher 

 and the tree swallow, at times do strange 

 hovering antics which bear out the theory 

 that a wonderful subconscious force must 

 aid in maintaining position. It would be 

 interesting to exoeriment with time ex- 

 posure photographs of hovering sparrow 

 hawks facing various wind velocities. 

 The wings, head and tail would blur, but 

 how about the bodv? 



