EASTERN SCREECH OWL 251 



Dr. Allen (1924) says: "To summarize: remains of birds were found 

 on 35 days, insects on 28 days, crawfish on 24 days, amphibians on 

 15 days, mammals on 12 days, fish on 6 days, and spiders, snails, 

 and reptiles on one day each." He gives a fist of the species of birds 

 fed to the young, making a total of 24 species and at least 98 indivi- 

 duals, and says: "Since the feathers in the nest undoubtedly represent 

 many more than one bird of each species, the grand total of birds 

 required to feed the three young Owls from the time of hatching until 

 left by the old birds was certainly over a hundred." 



The long list of items in the food of the screech owl includes the 

 following mammals: Mainly mice of various species, but also shrews, 

 rats, moles, flying squirrels, chipmunks, and an occasional bat. 

 Illustrating the usefulness of the screech owl as a mouser, Forbush 

 (1927) writes: "All one season I watched a pair that were rearing a 

 brood near my cottage. * * * All the pellets and other refuse 

 from their food that seasoD showed only remains of mice, shrews and 

 insects. * * * While the owls were there, the mice did no damage 

 to our young orchard, but two years later their box fell down and was 

 not replaced for the next two years. The second wiDter the mice 

 girdled nearly all our apple trees. The next year a number of boxes 

 were erected. The owls returned and we had no trouble from mice 

 thereafter." 



Although birds do not form so large a proportion of the food as 

 mammals, the fist of species is a long one, as follows: Domestic pigeons, 

 quail, ruffed grouse, woodcock, sparrow hawk, screech owl, downy 

 woodpecker, kingbird, phoebe, wood pewee, horned lark, blue jay, 

 starling, blackbirds, Baltimore oriole, goldfinch, junco, canary, 

 indigo bunting, English and various other sparrows, cedar waxwing, 

 swallows, scarlet tanager, vireos, water thrush and various other 

 warblers, house wren, chickadee, nuthatches, brown creeper, catbird, 

 bluebird, robin, and various thrushes. 



A farmer once brought to me a screech owl that had been living in 

 his pigeon cote, and had killed nine of his pigeons; and there are 

 several other similar records. I had one in captivity that broke into 

 a cage and devoured a captive sparrow hawk; I could find only its 

 feathers. Many young birds are taken from the nests of various small 

 birds and fed to the young owls. Dr. Fisher (1893b) records a report 

 of a screech owl, much emaciated and driven by hunger, attacking a 

 large hen and attempting to carry it off. An instance of a screech 

 owl killing a ruffed grouse is recorded by Dr. George M. Sutton 

 (1927) as follows: 



At about midnight on December 20, 1924, Mr. George Ryder, of LeRoy, 

 Bradford County, Pennsylvania, captured a Screech Owl in a steel trap which he 

 had set earlier in the evening on the body of a grouse which he had just found 

 freshly killed, and from which he had frightened what he recognized as a small 



