144 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



she jumps and flies directly toward us, lighting on the stairs about 

 seven feet from where we sit. * * * Then she seems to spy the 

 window and silently glides out into the night." 



Another, similar feeding was observed at 9.18. Summing up their 

 observations, they say: "Both adults participated in the feeding. 

 Female an 'earlier riser,' her earliest visit made at 8.20 P. M. while 

 male put in his initial appearance at 9.45 P. M. Under normal con- 

 ditions the feedings no doubt continue throughout the night, but 

 during our observation the adults were frightened and paid fewer 

 visits. Feedings were in the ratio of two by the female to one by the 

 male. The first evening the bringing of food was witnessed, the 

 female, obviously suspicious of our presence but not alarmed, brought 

 three mice within a period of fifty-three minutes." 



They learned by subsequent observations that the young owls were 

 ready to leave the nest and fly out into the world "seven and one-half 

 to eight weeks subsequent to hatching." And they inferred, from the 

 sounds heard and the behavior of the adults, that the young lived in 

 the surrounding trees and were fed by their parents for some time after 

 leaving the nest. They describe the following calls of the young: 



(1) A high-pitched quavering whine uttered by recently hatched fledgling 

 before eyes were open. 



(2) A loud hiss uttered through the open mouth, expressing alarm. As the 

 fledglings develop in size this hiss gradually changes into a throaty, hissing 

 scream devoid of tone, which presumably later becomes the adult "scream." 



(3) A short rasping call, or "snore" (Dresser). This is the food call and varies 

 considerably in pitch. 



(4) A discordant scream, similar to that of the adult, but of shorter duration 

 and higher pitch. Uttered on the wing at age of approximately 10y 2 weeks. 



A young bird handled by Howard H. Cleaves (1910) uttered "a 

 plaintive chi-le-le-le, chi-le-l-le, chi-le-le-le, repeated very rapidly." 



Plumages. — The young barn owl is easily recognized at any age by 

 its much prolonged and pointed face, exceeding all other owls in this 

 respect. It also differs from other owls in its sequence of downs, 

 having at first a fuzzy, white down, which is followed by a woolly, 

 bufiy-white down; it never acquires a long, fluffy, soft, juvenal plum- 

 age, so characteristic of other young owls ; this is probably due to the 

 fact that the first winter plumage is acquired at a very early age and is 

 nearly complete when the bird leaves the nest. E. Lowell Sumner, Jr. 

 (1933) has described this very well as follows: 



The fuzzy white nestling down is the only covering of the young barn owl until 

 about the sixth day. At this time the buff-colored second downy plumage begins 

 to appear, and carries the earlier down away on its tips. This second down 

 rapidly develops into the thick, woolly covering which is so characteristic of young 

 barn owls, and remains as a conspicuous feature until the bird is about fifty days 

 of age. At this time close examination reveals traces of the short nestling down 

 still adhering to the tips of the second coat through which, on the wings, the dark 

 tips of the developing primaries are beginning to push their way. The rest of 

 the contour feathers are as yet invisible and have not emerged from the follicles. 



