36 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



else ; and I )r. Woodliouse speaks of it as very common in tlie Indian Tem- 

 tories, aiul also in Texas and New Mexico, especially in the timbeved lands 

 bordering the streams and ])()nds of that rejiion. In July, 1S4G, while in 

 pursuit of shore birds in the island of Muskeget, near Nantucket, in the 

 middle of a bright day, I \\as surprised by meeting one of these bii'ds, 

 which, uninvited, joined us in the hunt, and when shot proved to be a fine 

 male adidt specimen. 



The Barred Owl was found in great abundance in Florida by ilr. J. A. 

 Allen, the only species of Owl at all common, and where its ludicrous notes 

 were heard at night everywhere, and even occasionally in the daytime. At 

 night they not unfrequently startle the traveller by their strange utterances 

 from the trees directly over his head. 



Mr. Dresser speaks of it as very abundant at all seasons of the year in 

 the wooded parts of Texas. He was not able to find its nest, but was told 

 by the liunters that they build iu hollow- trees, near the banks of the 

 rivers. 



According to Mr. Downes, this Owl is common throughout Xova Scotia, 

 where it is resident, and never leaves its particular neighborliood. It lireeds 

 in the woods throughout all ]iarts of that colony, and was observed by him 

 to feed on hares, spruce and rufl'ed grouse, and other birds. It is said to 

 be a quite common event for this bird to make its appearance at midniglit 

 about the camp-fires of the moose-hunter and the lumberer, and to disturb 

 their slumbers with its cries, as with a demoniacal expression it peers into 

 the glare of the embers. Distending its throat and pushing its head for- 

 ward, it gives utterance to unearthly sounds that to the superstitious are 

 quite appaUiug. 



Mr. "Wilson regarded this species as one of the most common of the Owls 

 in the lower parts of Pennsyh'ania, where it was particularly numerous in 

 winter, among the woods that border the extensive meadows of the Schuyl- 

 kill and the Delaware Eiver. He frequently observed it flying during the 

 day, when it seemed to be able to see quite distinctly. He met with more 

 than forty of these birds in one spring, either flying or sitting exposed in 

 the daytime, and once discovered one of its nests situated iu the crotch 

 of a white oak, among thick foliage, and containing three young. It 

 was rudely put together, made outwardly of sticks, iutermLxed \vith dry 

 grasses and leaves, and lined with smaller twigs. He adds that this Owl 

 screams in the day in the manner of a Hawk. Xuttall characterizes their 

 peculiar hooting as a loud guttural call, which he expresses by 'Ivk-lvh-ko- 

 'ko-'ho, or as '■whah-'irJiah-'whah-'vhah-aa, heard occasionally both by day and 

 by night. It is a note of recognition, and may be easily imitated, and can be 

 used as a means to decoy the birds. Nuttall received a specimen that had 

 been shot in November, hovering, in the daytime, over a covey of Quail. 



Mr. Audubon speaks of the peculiar hooting cries of this species as 

 strangely ludicrous in somid, and as suggestive of an affected burst of 



