192 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



her off; after a few attempts I had difficulty in making her leave at 

 all (pi. 42). 



I consider the barred owl a very gentle bird for a raptor. I have 

 never had one even threaten to attack me, even when I was handling 

 the young. The most aggressive ones have merely flown about at a 

 safe distance, snapping their bills loudly. Other people have been 

 attacked, however. Mr. Bolles (1890) shot the two old birds when he 

 took the young and says: "The gun was quite necessary, for my friend 

 would have fared badly in climbing if I had not shot the old birds 

 before they could attack him." Dr. Sutton (1928) says: "The adults 

 were so combative, whenever Mr. Cook climbed the tree, that he took 

 a club with him for protection." H. D. Ruhl (1926) was attacked 

 while handling the young in a nest, and gave his companion a chance 

 to photograph the event; he writes: 



In order to get a picture I deliberately turned rny back, took a firm grip on the 

 trunk and began to tease the young until they would utter a shrill squeal. After 

 a few minutes the female swooped down and struck me on the shoulders with both 

 her feet. Although expected, the first impact was rather a surprise to me, and 

 a new experience. The talons pierced my heavy shirt and underwear and left 

 their marks in my skin. In about three minutes the female struck again and by 

 this time the male seemed to think it must be a safe proposition for he, too, struck 

 me, but with more caution and less damage. After the female had left her marks 

 for the third time, Mr. Hurlbert thought that he must have some good films and 

 I was more than ready to call it enough. 



The prevailing impression that owls cannot see in daylight is errone- 

 ous. The eyesight of the barred owl is particularly keen. Mr. 

 Bolles (1890) often left one of his owls perched in the open sunlight 

 and found that it "was keenly alive to anything passing skyward, for 

 if a Hawk or Crow came into view far away in the deep blue, Puffy 's 

 gaze was instantly turned full upon the growing speck, the eyelids 

 partly closed and a most intense look coming into his eyes. Again and 

 again Puffy has seen Hawks or Gulls overhead which my eyes, although 

 unusually far-sighted, have at first been unable to discern. On one 

 eventful day he showed me 334 Hawks sailing southwest under the 

 pressure of a stiff northeast gale." 



On the other hand, he says: "Contrary to my expectations the 

 Owls are not appreciably more active in twilight hours than at other 

 times, and I think they are quiet, possibly asleep, at night. I am cer- 

 tain that in an ordinary degree of darkness they cannot see. If the 

 light goes out while Fluffy is flying in my cellar in the evening, he is 

 sure to crash into something or fall heavily to the ground. I have 

 held Puffy close to a cat in the dark, and he was wholly unaware of her 

 presence." 



Their sense of hearing is very keen, as it is with all owls. Dr. 

 Fisher (1893b) tells of a pair that came from a distance of over 50 

 yards in response to a low squeaking sound he made to attract birds. 



