22 



THE 00 LOG 1ST 



be ia a far-advanced state of decay. The 

 previous night had been very dark and 

 stormy, perhaps the old birds had not been 

 able to catch any live prey, and had brought 

 the dead Partridge to serve as food for their 

 young in case of extreme need. j 



The young are, for some time after birth, 

 covered with a fine white down, which gives \ 

 them a peculiar, but not an uninteresting 

 appearance. Their call or cry is a singu- j 

 lar hissing sound, which can be heard at a 

 srreat distance. These birds, like most oth- j 

 er Owls, are clothed with feathers of very j 

 different shape and texture. Those sur- 

 rounding the bill are similar to bristles ; 

 those around the region of the eyes are un- 

 webbed and extremely open, and are bound- | 

 ed by a set proceeding from the external 

 edge of the ear, small and velvety, consist- 

 ing of exquisitely fine fibers, almtjst invis- j 

 ible to the naked eye. The outward pin- | 

 mage of these birds has one general char- 

 acter at the surface, calculated to repel rain 

 and moisture ; but toward the roots of the 

 feathers, it is composed of a very soft, 

 loose, and downy substance, so that we j 

 may touch without feeling it. The webs j 

 of the wing-quills are also of a delicate soft- i 

 uess, covered with exceeding fine hair, and i 

 edged with a fine, loose, silky down. All ! 

 this enables the owl to pass through tjie : 

 air without disturbing, in the slightest de- ( 

 gree, the most profound stillness. The j 

 long bristly feathers around the bill and the 

 eyes serve to guard the latter from injury, ' 

 when the Owl sweeps rapidly through a 

 thicket, as on the slightest touch at the , 

 point of any of these bristles, the nictita- 

 ting membrane is instantly drawn over the 

 eye. 



There is often a remarkable difference in 

 size between the male and female, and be- 

 tween the birds generally of this species. 

 The usual length of the female is about 

 twenty-two inches, though I have shot one 

 that measured twenty-eight inches. The 

 usual average of the male is seventeen inch- 

 es, by thirty-eight inches in circumferance. 

 Theodore Jasper.* 



* Part 6, Birds of North America. 



A BRIEF note published in this journal 

 a short time since, in regard to a flycatch- 

 ing habit of the Red-headed Woodpecker, 

 calls to mind an occurrence of the same 

 thing concerning the Robin, which habit 

 may or may not have been observed by our 

 readers. A Least Flycatcher (^Empidonax 

 minimus) had built a nest in one of the 

 shade trees, and the snap of its little bill 

 was constantly heard among the leaves. 

 Several times it would dart in close prox- 

 imity to passers-by, and our attention was 

 drawn into watching it in our leisure mo- 

 ments. But one afternoon a larger bird 

 flew swiftly out from a neighboring tree, 

 closed its bill with au audible snap, and a- 

 lit upon the fence, where it devoured a large 

 insect of some kind, likely a moth. Quite 

 surprised at finding it to be a Robin, we re- 

 garded its movements, and saw it perform 

 the same thing twice more, after which it 

 disappeared. Subsequently this Robin was 

 seen a number of times (•atching insects in 

 the air, in which it seemed very proficient. 



There has been an unusual abundance 

 of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Redstart, 

 and Chestnut-sided Warbler, in the high, 

 bush-covered portions of Herkimer and O- 

 neida Counties, New York, the present sea- 

 son. The unusually good facilities for 

 nesting and the plenitude of food have al- 

 w^ays offered an attraction to the smaller 

 birds iidiabiting the hilly districts of these 

 Counties. 



"Tip-up." 



TTNFORTUNATE is the ornithologist 

 who does not know what constitutes a 

 ''Tip-up." And little does he know of 

 birds, who has not observed these diminu- 

 tive waders engaged in their oscillatory 

 movements, without reflecting upon the 

 probable causes of so peculiar a habit. 

 Some think it is merely a habit, others that 

 it is a si";u of some mental condition — af- 



