334 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



a few feet of it, as it sat upon the bushes. Dr. Richardson 

 gives the following notice respecting it in the Fauna Boreali- 

 Americana : — 'When it actually wanders abroad in the day, it 

 is so much dazzled b}^ the light of the sun as to become stupid, 

 and it may then be easily caught by the hand. Its cry in the 

 night is a single melancholy note, repeated at intervals of a 

 minute or two. Mr. Hutciiins informs us that it builds a nest 

 of grass half wa}^ up a i^ine tree, and lays two white oggs in 

 the month of May. It feeds on mice and beetles, I eannot 

 state the extent of its range, but believe that it inhabits all the 

 woody country from Great Slave Lake to the United States. 

 On the banks of the Saskatchewan it is so common that its 

 voice is heard almost ever^' night by the traveller, wherever he 

 selects his bivouac' " 



(B) ACADicA. Acadian Owl. Saio-ivhet Owl. 



(In INIassachusetts, not common, unless in autumn.) 



(a). When erect, about six inches high. Above, chocolate- 

 brown ; head streaked, back spotted, and tail barred, with 

 white. Beneath, white, streaked (in blotches) with reddish 

 chocolate. (Tarsal feathers, tawny.) Eyes encircled by black. 

 Bill black. (In A, " bill yellow.") 



{h). " The eggs are generally laid in the hole of a tree, and 

 are four to six in number." An egg, which was found in a 

 pine-wood near Boston, about the first of May, evidently be- 

 longed to this bird. It was lying on the ground (not far from 

 a tree, in which an Acadian Owl had previously been seen), 

 and to it was attached two feathers, which correspond exactly 

 to those of a stuffed "Saw-whet." The egg was cold, and 

 slightly cracked. It has a remarkably smooth, white shell, 

 and measures about I'OO X "90 of an inch. 



(c). The little Acadian Owls are residents throughout New 

 England, but near Boston, so far as I have observed, they are 

 very rare in summer, being most numerous in autumn. They 

 are apparently more social than other species, as " they have 

 been known to occur in small parlies." I have, however, al- 

 ways met them singly. During the day, they remain in woods 



