232 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



low perch, blinking in the sun as though much 

 bewildered. Not long since, I approached one 

 within arm's length as he sat on a low tree, and 

 was about to seize him when he took sudden 

 flight. 



Among Screech Owls there is a wide difference 

 in coloring not easy to explain. Some are gray; 

 others in the same brood may be distinctly 

 brown. The back is minutely streaked and 

 spotted with gray or reddish-brown and black. 

 The under parts are grayish, streaked with 

 brown and black. There are two tufts of dark 

 feathers, like ears, and the large eyes are yellow. 

 They are about ten inches long. They range 

 over the Eastern States, rarely as far north as 

 Maine, and are resident throughout. They de- 

 stroy many mice, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles 

 and other insects. 



Saw-whet Owls. This Owl also derives its 

 name from its peculiar cry which much re- 

 sembles the sounds made in filing a saw. It is 

 the smallest of our common Owls, only eight 

 inches in length. It is a dweller of the woods, 

 with a more northern range than the Screech 

 Owl, and it moves southward in the winter, in 

 search of food, but is not regarded as a migrant. 

 I have often found them about deserted logging- 

 camps in the woods of Maine, where they are 

 common in summer. 



The Saw-whet Owl's upper parts are cinna- 

 mon-brown, with the head, back and tail 

 streaked and spotted with white. The under 

 parts are white streaked with brown. The feet 

 and legs are covered with brownish-white 



