38 THE SCREECH OWL. 



over mottled and streaked with black, the black streaks 

 beneath again crossed with black and accompanied with 

 reddish tints, white markings on the shoulders — sometimes 

 the general ash-gray above mentioned being entirely re- 

 placed by reddish; this bird can never be mistaken. H. D. 

 Minot says: "The eggs are laid in the hollow of a tree, an 

 apple-tree being frequently selected, in which are often 

 placed a few simple materials, such as leaves or dried grass. 

 The eggs, of which four are laid about the middle of April, 

 average 1.35 X 1-20 of an inch, though occasionally speci- 

 mens measure 1.50 x l-^O of an inch. They are white, and 

 nearly spherical." The almost round, white eggs, generally 

 pure white and about equal at both ends, and with a fine 

 surface, are characteristic of the Owls. 



Mr. W. Perham (at Tyngsboro, Mass.) often secures the 

 nest of this species by fastening on trees in the woods 

 " sections of hollow trunks, boarded up at the open ends, 

 with entrance-holes cut in the sides," the bird appropriating 

 these instead of natural cavities or deserted Woodpeckers' 

 nests, "both as roosting and nesting places." 



As with the Owls in general, this species, w^hen in the 

 down, is pure white. Being very small, excepting the bill 

 and feet, it might be mistaken for a little white Bantam 

 Chicken. A pretty sight, indeed, is this snow-white brood 

 of little creatures, in a hole of some old apple-tree, in the 

 thick, shadowy part of the orchard, or in some partially 

 decayed tree in the edge of a dense woods. 



On one of the last days of May (1880), I was surprised, 

 while passing through the woods, by something which 

 seemed to me at first sight a large bunch of gray wool on 

 a limb some fifteen feet from the ground, but which, on 

 closer examination, proved to be four young Screech Owls, 

 nearly full-grown, well fledged, and sitting so closely to- 



