EASTERN SCREECH OWL 257 



pangs and the delights of supernal love in the infernal groves. 

 * * * Oh-o-o-o-o that I had never been bor-r-r-r-r-n sighs one on 

 this side of the pond, and circles with the restlessness of despair to 

 some new perch on the gray oaks. Then — that I never had been 

 bor-r-r-r-n echoes another on the further side with tremulous sin- 

 cerity, and bor-r-r-r-n comes faintly from far in Lincoln woods." 



The screech owl's call is seldom heard until after dark, but Mr. 

 Kalter tells me that he has heard it calling on at least three occasions 

 in bright daylight, at 11.30 a. m. and 1.15 and 2 p. m. On two occa- 

 sions he has heard one calling while in flight, once while being chased 

 by a robin. Dr. Winsor M. Tyler contributes the following good 

 description of the screech owl's notes: 



"The commonest note of the screech owl is a whistle, well within 

 human range, which, rising a little in pitch, becomes tremulous, then 

 slides down below the starting point, the tremulous quality becoming 

 so marked that, near the end, the voice is almost divided into separate 

 notes. The whole has a sad, dreary effect, due rather to the tone of 

 voice and the sliding change of pitch than to any minor intervals. 



"The owl varies this cry in several ways. The note may begin on 

 various pitches— that is, one wail may be markedly higher or lower 

 than the wail preceding it; the pitch may rise very little, or it may rise 

 two or more tones before it falls at the end ; the pitch may fall a varying 

 degree, sometimes three or four tones; and a fourth variation is at the 

 beginning of the cry when the quavering quality is delayed appre- 

 ciably. 



"A second note, less common than the wail in proportion of about 

 1 to 10, may be suggested by the letters ho-ho-ho-ho, pronounced with 

 a good deal of aspirate quality. This series of notes is generally 

 given alone, but it may sometimes immediately follow the wail. 

 The pitch of this call is about five tones below the highest note of the 

 wail, and as a rule does not vary, although it occasionally runs up- 

 ward a little. It is sometimes heard in the daytime. 



"I have often heard another note in August and early in September, 

 when several owls — presumably a family out hunting — had gathered 

 'in the dead vast and middle of the night' and were calling to one 

 another from the trees about Lexington Common. Among the sub- 

 dued whinnyings and tremulous owlish coos, there comes out of the 

 darkness a sharp cry — almost human, or like a little child's voice — a 

 cry like keerr, sometimes rolling at the end. It is about as long as a 

 flicker's call note, and moves about as the bird flies from one perch to 

 another. Sometimes the note is uttered with so much energy that it 

 suggests excitement or eagerness. 



"It seems probable that this is the call of a fledgling owl, signaling 

 its whereabouts to its parents while they are away, searching for food 



