AMERICAN BARN OWL 149 



owls has long remained unnoticed in a thickly settled community; 

 and it is well that it is so, for, otherwise, the long-established prejudice 

 against all owls, or the craze to kill a curious bird, might lead some 

 thoughtless man or boy to destroy one of their most useful friends. 



Voice. — Potter and Gillespie (1925) record three different calls of 

 the adult barn owl: "(1) A discordant scream expressing alarm. 

 (2) A snapping of the bill expressing suspicion and alarm. (3) A 

 flight call, resembling 'ick-ick-ick-ick', apparently signifying the 

 bringing of food." 



Grinnell and Storer (1924) say: "The notes of the Barn Owl are of 

 two kinds: One is a single, loud, prolonged, rasping sksch, uttered 

 only at long intervals; the other, a series of notes click, click, click, 

 click, click, resembling in character the notes of a katydid, but deliv- 

 ered with diminishing emphasis and shortening intervals toward the 

 end of the series. From the changing direction of the sounds, it is 

 evident that the notes are uttered in flight as one bird closely follows 

 another." 



Bendire (1892) says: "Besides the peevish scream already men- 

 tioned, they utter at times a feeble querulous note like 'quaek-quaek,' 

 or 'aek-aek,' sounding somewhat like the call of the Night Hawk 

 (Chordeiles virginianus), frequently repeated, only not so loud." 



Joseph W. Lippincott (1917) gives his impressions of the weird notes 

 of the barn owl as follows: 



After listening night after night to the harsh screams, and even louder growling, 

 rattling noise he can make, sounds which in the dark hours fairly make the shivers 

 jump up and down one's spine, I can well imagine that woods could seem haunted 

 and that, in the silent flopping flight of the big whitish bird, any superstitious per- 

 son could see a ghost or almost any uncanny being of the visionary world. * * * 



It is one of the old Owls that makes the growling rattle which, reverberating 

 among tree trunks, sounds almost like a menagerie let loose. The sound seems 

 usually to be made while the bird is flying with, or to, its mate. When coming 

 toward one it is truly terrifying, particularly if in some gloomy recess of a wood. 



Enemies. — The barn owl has few enemies other than its arch enemy, 

 man; it is deplorable that these interesting and useful birds are so 

 often killed because of their supposed destruction of game birds or 

 poultry, of which they are seldom guilty, or because they make 

 interesting specimens to mount. 



The great horned owl seems to be their chief natural enemy. These 

 large, fierce, and powerful owls have been recorded several times as 

 killing and devouring the gentle and weaker barn owl, which seems 

 to be incapable of defending itself against such a formidable foe. 

 Dawson (1923) says of the prairie falcon: "The Falcon is a heartless 

 tyrant, and in this hour of his anxiety, he rejoices in a chance to 

 vent his spite upon an innocent Barn Owl. Only luck can save the 

 Owl. Some I have seen smashed in midair, and others merely bowled 



