320 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



facial disk whitish or gray; wing and tail feathers with pairs of rounded white spots, those 

 on the tail forming two or three imperfect bars, besides the white tip. 



Yoimg: Similar to adult only in size and wing and tail markings; upper parts reddish- 

 brown without any light spots; under parts brown in front, yellowish posteriorly, and 

 without any streaks; facial disk dark brown with a white strijie above each eye, this white 

 "eyebrow" giving the name "White-fronted Owl." 



Length 7.25 to 8.50 inches; wing 5.25 to 5.90; tail 2.80 to 3.25. 



156. Screech Owl. Otus asio asio (Linn.). (373) 



Synonyms: Mottled Owl, Red Owl, Gray Owl, Little Horned Owl. — Strix asio, Linn., 

 1758, Gmel., Shaw. Wils., Aud. — Scops asio, Bonap. and many others. — Megascops asio, 

 Stejn., 1885, and most subsequent authors. 



Plate XXIX and Figure 81. 



Our only small owl with conspicuous ear-tufts; but recognizable also 

 by the absence of w hite dots above, the feathers of back and breast whatever 

 their color always showing dark shaft stripes. 



Distribution. — Temperate eastern North America, south to Georgia 

 and west to the plains. Accidental in England. 



Throughout most of Michigan this undoubtedly is the commonest owl, 

 found not only in thickly wooded regions, but in almost equal abundance 

 in the older settled parts of the state, where it frequents orchards, groves, 

 and the fringe of timber along the streams, and is even found in the small 

 parks or the shade trees along the streets in our largest cities. In spite 

 of the fact that this owl is almost invariably killed by man whenever 

 opportunity offers, it has held its own during recent years and probably 

 is as abundant now in most localities as it w^as fifty yenYS ago. It is perhaps 

 somewhat less plentiful in the Upper Peninsula, but it doubtless occurs 

 in every county in the state and appears to be resident wherever found. 



During the day it secretes itself in some hollow tree, or more rarely in 

 some sheltered retreat among the thickest foliage (preferably of an ever- 

 green), and ventures forth only after sunset unless earher discovered, 

 mobbed, and driven from place to place by Blue Jays and other birds, 

 which are always on the lookout for their enemies. 



The ordinary call of the Mottled Owl is a series of clear, tremulous 

 and plaintive, but rather musical notes, suggesting a wail rather than a 

 screech and by no means justifying the common name "Screech Owl." 

 This call is uttered at all hours of the night and at all seasons of the year, 

 although according to our experience most frequently and persistently 

 during the earlier jDart of the breeding season. Nevertheless Mr. Eugene 

 Bicknell states that in the lower Hudson Valley "The late summer far more 

 than the spring seems to be the season when its cry is most frequent and 

 most regular from year to year. Usually, after a considerable time of 

 silence, it begins to quaver in July or in August, thence continuing off and 

 on until winter. I am not without scattering records of having heard it 

 in winter; but it is virtually a silent bird from December or earlier until 

 March or later. With some uniformity it is to be heard for a short time 

 in late March or early April; but I have not a record for late April, May 

 or June" (Auk, II, 260-261). 



The nest is placed invariably in the hollow of a tree, perhaps most often 

 a natural hollow, but not infrequently in the nest of a woodpecker which 

 has been deserted, or from which the rightful owner has been forcibly 



