THE SCREECH OWL. 383 



almost despairing wink" peculiar to it, but because they have an ancient and 

 well-grounded grudge against this bird of silent wing and cruel claw. All 

 but the Blue Jay — he is a villain himself, and he leads the persecution of owls 

 from sheer love of mischief. Whenever a Blue Jay's voice is lifted high and 

 there is an under-chorus of bird babble beneath it, it is time for the bird-man 

 to slip rapidly forward from tree to tree and investigate. 



One such din I heard on a winter's day. in a little wood north of town. 

 The center of attraction proved to be a certain hole or crevice about twenty- 

 five feet high in an ash tree. The Blue Jays retreated as I advanced to the 

 shelter of a commanding tree-bole; but the rest of the birds held their ground. 

 I watched while Red-headed Woodpeckers took turns peeping into the hole 

 and shuddering. Once a Red-head yelled, "Ouch!" and jumped a yard or 

 mure. Chickadees clamored, "Let me see! Let me see!" while Titmice and 

 Cardinals sputtered their indignation. A pair of White-breasted Nuthatches 

 inspected the locality minutely. One murmured, "Horrible! The hypocrit- 

 ical old cut-throat!" and the woods quanked and shivered assent. 



Of course I knew what was up and I came forward to take a hand in the 

 game. A couple of smart raps from a stick brought a weary and somnolent 

 Screech Owl to the mouth of the hole. He blinked aimlessly about for a 

 moment and then sank back. "Well," thought I, "he's slow, I'll go up and 

 interview him." The tree was of considerable girth and almost bare of limbs. 

 I tried to keep an eye on the hole, but somehow, when I got there, panting 

 fiercely, the hole contained "nothing but leaves." Sir Owl had flitted, chuck- 

 ling noiselessly in his silken sleeve. 1 



Screech < )wls are not really more numerous in winter, as has been some- 

 times supposed, but are only more in evidence at that season, because of the 

 comparative scarcity of the staple food, mice and insects. Then they are 

 driven also to seek shelter in barns and outbuildings, and not infrequently fly 

 in at open windows. Small birds are captured to much greater extent then 

 than during the warmer seasons, and the bird is evidently cultivating a weak- 

 ness for English Sparrows; for which he deserves a vote of thanks. 



Eggs of this species are to be found the last week in March or the first 

 in April, in deserted Woodpeckers' nests, natural cavities in trees, or holes 

 and nannies about buildings. Of the incubation, Professor Lynds Jones 

 says: 2 "Both parents are generally found near the nest, and not infrequently 

 sitting on the eggs at the same time. In a number of instances I have taken 

 the two from well incubated eggs, but have never flushed both from a fresh 

 set. Between the interval when the first egg is laid and the set is completed, 

 the male may be found in a hollow tree near by and cannot be flushed, 

 while the female watches the nest and flushes easily. When incubation begins 

 the male will flush readily for a time, the female, however, remaining. 

 Later, both birds must be dislodged by force. If the cavity is large enough 



1 Reproduced here by courtesy of "The Wilson Bulletin." 



2 Communicated to Capt. Bendire. See "Life Histories of N. A. Birds," Vol. I., p. 357. 



