226 Bird - Lore 



On a lower shelf from the one they occupied I found four dead mice laid in a 

 pile, and I was told that on another occasion they had eight others arranged 

 in the same manner. One of the four mice found on the shelf was very large 

 for Microtus pennsyhanicus (Ord.), and while it may be that species, the 

 authorities to whom it has been shown are not sure of its identity. It is now 

 in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History. 



"On account of their mouse-eating habits these Owls are very useful about 

 a barn or farm; for, while the farmer is asleep, they serve him greatly in the 

 preservation of his crops, and it has been truly said that during all of their 

 wanderings they are aiding mankind, their only enemy. 



"On the occasion of my visit, I collected a number of pellets or rejects of 

 these Owls, and there were remains of a great many others near-by. From 

 these pellets I have raised the Tineid moth {Trichophaga tapetzella Linn.), 

 but I found no Trox beetles, as discovered in pellets found under trees on 

 several previous occasions. . . . Dr. Dyar and other authorities regard 

 this moth as rare in the United States. 



"On the eleventh of November, with Mr. James Chapin and Mr. Alanson 

 Skinner, I visited the Owls for the third time, and, while I chmbed to the loft 

 my companions stood outside and watched the hole whence the Owls would 

 fly. As before, the Owls heard me coming, and one walked out on the perch 

 and stood in the light, where my companions could see it well before it flew 

 off to a neighboring tree. It was then discovered that another Owl was hiding 

 behind one of the rafters, and on two occasions it came from its retreat and 

 walked about so that we could examine it closely, but it seemed anxious to 

 hide behind a beam rather than to fly out into the daylight. Its gait was 

 nervous and jerky, and it would stand for a moment and regard us, and then 

 hasten to get behind the beam again. It is certainly a queer-visaged bird, is 

 the 'Monkey-faced' Owl. It is also sometimes called 'Golden Owl', for its 

 plumage is very beautiful." 



It was through the kindness and influence of Mr. Davis that the writer 

 was enabled to secure the photographs accompanying this article. 



My several experiences with this pair of Monkey-faced Owls were, with 

 perhaps one exception, most enjoyable; and that exception was the fault, 

 not of the Owls, but of an ignorant farm hand. I had taken Mr. Chnton G. 

 Abbott to the barn, and both of us, equipped with Graflex cameras, hoped to 

 photograph the old Owl as she flew from the pigeon-loft. But I had learned 

 from previous experiences that some one was obliged to climb the ladder 

 inside the cote in order to start the bird from her nest or from her roosting- 

 place. We looked about for a suitable third party to perform this necessary 

 duty, but, contrary to the general rule, no inquisitive small boy was to be 

 seen, and it was with reluctance that we approached one of the farmer's 

 employees. We explained, with as little detail as possible, that, when we had 

 scaled the outside wall of the main barn and reached the upper eaves with 



