THE OSPREY. 



43 



THE OSPREY. 



All Illustrated Magazine of Popular Ornithology. 



Published Monthly, 

 By 

 THE OSPREY COMPANY. 



Edited by Theodore Gill in collaboration with Robert 

 Ridgway. LeonhardStejneger, Frederic A. Lucas. Charles 

 W. Richmond. Paul Bartsch, William Palmer and Harry 

 C. Oberholser ofWashington. and Witmer .Stone of Phila- 

 delphia. 



Contributions of a relevant nature are respectfully soli- 

 cited, and should be addressed to The O.sprey Company. 

 3-.21-3-23 4J4 Street N. W.. Washington. D. C. 



Subscription : In the United States. Canada and Mexico, 

 One Dollar a year, in advance. Single Copies. Ten Cents. 



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Entered as second-class matter, by the The Osprey 

 Company at the Washington, D. C, Post Office. 



Vol. IV. 



NOVEMBER. 1899. 



Comments. 



POPUL.\K IGNOKANCE OF BiKDS. 



Although bird.s are favorites of the people 

 g-enerally and pre.suniably better known to the 

 average moderately educated than any other 

 class of animals, we are frequently struck b^' 

 the ignorance displayed in the daily and weekh' 

 press. At the present moment the following 

 paragraph is going the rounds. 



A BIRD WITH A MONKEY FACE. 



Norwich, N. Y., jVoz'. 6. — A new kind of bird 

 has been discovered in the steeple of the Broad 

 Street Church, high above the bell. N. J. Sher- 

 man, whose bttsiness place is near the church, 

 climbed into the steeple to investigate the source 

 of a peculiar cooing noise. He found a large 

 bird on a nest full of young ones. She flew ofi^ 

 into a tree and as she alig^hted the branch broke 

 and the bird came to the ground. It seemed 

 dazed and was captured. The bird has a pecu- 

 liar face, like a monkey, and is large. It is at 

 present contined in a cage, while its owner has 

 written to authorities on ornithology to enquire 

 as to the species. A bird of its kind has never 

 been seen in this region before. The young 

 birds were also captured. 



Now it will be evident to any one having even 

 a slight knowledge of ornithology that this 

 notice is one of a very common owl — a species 

 more likely to be seen in the warmer parts of 

 the United States than any other. It is one that 



makes use of the structures of man to a greater 

 extent than any other species, .so that it has been 

 called the Barn Owl and f/ie Common Owl. It is 

 apt al.so to make its presence known, especially 

 in winter or during the breeding season, by 

 its own outcry (it is also called in common with 

 others Screech Owl) as well as by the cries of its 

 young in the evening. Yet in a considerable 

 town (Norwich has a population of over 6,000 in- 

 habitants) there was apparently no one who 

 could tell what the bird was! It is noteworthy, 

 then, that a re.semblance or suggestive likeness 

 to a Monkey's face was seen or imagined inde- 

 pendently by the people of Norwich, and thus 

 was confirmed the aptness of another name 

 (Monkey Owl) that has been given to the species. 

 True, it is not a common species in central 

 New York, but some one of a large population 

 should be able to identify it. In almost every 

 well illustrated bird book an illustration is given 

 and it is to be seen in almost every extensive 

 collection of live birds. 



But Norwich is by no means exceptional in 

 manifestation of ignorance respecting birds nor 

 is the case now cited the only instance of the 

 Barn Owl appearing as a rare and unknown 

 bird. Indeed, a number of cases could be cited 

 of its posturing in the role. For instance, not 

 long ago, in a city not far from Washington an 

 owl was caught and widely noticed in the news- 

 papers. It was advertised as the Monkey Owl 

 and attracted quite a large number of visitors at 

 the cost of an admission fee of ten cents each, 

 and the fortunate proprietor claimed to have 

 been offered $500 for it! He refused the offer — 

 or said he did — and kindly ofi^ered it to the Na- 

 tional Museum — for a consideration. His agent 

 saw with amazement — apparently real — man^^ 

 mounted and stufi"ed specimens in the Mu.seum 

 and live examples in the Zoological Gardens. 

 What was the after history is unknown to us, 

 but the ignorance was patent. 



The present generation of children will not be 

 as ignorant in .some parts of the country at least 

 as the past. In Washington the presence of 

 whole schools of children with their teachers 

 may be frequently noticed in the National Mu- 

 seum and the Smith.sonian Institution, and the 

 interest which the youngsters take in the 

 mounted birds and other animals shows how 

 strong the bent of youth is towards nature. The 

 resolution just reached in Philadelphia and 

 which is referred to in the notes of this number 

 of the Osprey is another evidence of the awaken- 

 ing of the people to the advantage gained bj^ in- 



