188 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



"The call was a squeaky sound verging on a hiss and might be 

 described as a sibilant squeak. Each call lasted about three seconds 

 and was repeated regularly at intervals of from 10 to 30 seconds. It 

 can be fairly imitated by curling both lips outward, drawing the lower 

 lip over the upper teeth and, with jaws tight together, sucking in 

 slowly. The sound ends at a higher pitch, which is accomplished by 

 sucking faster. 



"To see if the old owl would decoy, I imitated this sound over a 45- 

 minute period, starting an hour after the death of the young. The 

 only result was an unproved sound, almost a whisper, which can be 

 described as wu-wu-wu, in the same cadence as the note of the katydid, 

 not unlike but much lower and fainter than that of the barred owl. 

 This call was made six times from five different positions, making 

 almost a circle around our position, and taking in all about five 

 minutes." 



Frank Bolles (1890) took two young barred owls from a cavity in a 

 giant beech and raised them in captivity. They developed into very 

 interesting pets, and he has written a full account of his experiences 

 with them. At first "they were savage, using beaks and claws 

 vigorously. * * * No one's fingers were safe inside the bars 

 when the young gluttons were hungry. When satisfied they were 

 stolid, and did little beyond moving their heads and snapping their 

 beaks." Later they became very tame, and he was able to carry 

 them about with him on long tramps through the woods and fields; 

 they sat contentedly on a stick that he carried in his hand, or perched 

 wherever he left them on any other object, and were always ready to 

 return home with him. They always attracted large gatherings of 

 small birds of many species, particularly flickers, blue jays, red-eyed 

 vireos, and chickadees, which showed their animosity in no uncertain 

 terms. 



Plumages. — When first hatched the young barred owl is fairly well 

 covered with thick, soft, pure-white down, quite silky on the back. 

 When between two and three weeks old, the white down begins to be 

 pushed out and replaced by the secondary down, or first downy 

 plumage; on the back and wings these downy feathers arc broadly 

 white terminally and basally buffy, broadly banded with "bister"; 

 the downy feathers of the breast are similar but paler; the belly, 

 flanks, and thighs are clothed with long, soft, fluffy down, longest on 

 the thighs, basally light buff, and terminally yellowish white to white ; 

 at this age the wings are starting to grow, but not the tail. 



During the next two or three weeks the wings grow rapidly, and the 

 downy plumage becomes more fully developed, the white tips becoming 

 more conspicuous above, and the under parts, including the flanks 

 and belly, becoming irregularly barred or spotted with "wood brown" 

 on a grayish-white ground color and with less buff showing basally. 



