ftlE OOLOGIST. 



85 



Mottled Owl. {Scops asio.) 



On the 10th of April I took my first 

 set of four eggs of the Mottled Owl (49). 

 The nest was in an isolated dead Poplar 

 tree, about 20 feet from the ground, in 

 an excavation made by Colaptus aura- 

 tus. About a week previous to taking 

 the eggs I climbed to the nest on which 

 sat one of the old birds ; it also contain- 

 ed a mole and a fish weighing two or 

 three oimces. The heads of both had 

 been consumed, and the bodies appar- 

 ently left for another meal. Another 

 nest of the same sjjecies examined by a 

 friend about the same time also contain- 

 ed a headless fish of the same variety, 

 which is very common here in the creeks 

 in the spring ; they are known as Frost- 

 fish. This would seem to prove that 

 this Owl catches fish or rather will live 

 on them when obtainable; it also devours 

 birds as well as small animals. April 

 12th, two days later, I took the remains 

 of a Eed-winged Blackbird (Agelaius 

 Phoeniceus) from a nest which also con- 

 tained three eggs. I have seen two 

 tame young birds of this species, one of 

 which I owned. When taken froni the 

 nest they were both covered with gray 

 down, and both assumed the red-mot- 

 tled plumage on feathering out. On the 

 17th of April, in company with a friend, 

 I took another set of five eggs of this 

 species far advanced in incubation, both 

 male and female being in the cavity at 

 the time ; the former was in the Gi-ay 

 plumage, wliile the female was in the 

 more frequent Red-mottled garb. 



MosES B. Gkiffing. 



The Cat Bird. 



We make the following extract from 

 "The Cat Bird," in nests and eggs of 

 the birds of Ohio, a work unequalled in 

 its chosen field : 



" Owing to a popular prejudice the 

 Catbird is much persecuted ; they have 

 the reputation of sucking eggs and kill- 



ing the young of other birds, besides 

 stealing the berries and fruit of the 

 garden. How the first accusation was 

 started and the cause of its wide-spread 

 dissemination, it is difficult to deter- 

 mine ; so far as I am aware the evidence 

 is all circumstantial. The cry of the 

 bird is so like the animal after which it 

 is named, that the association is not at 

 all calculated to give it character ; and 

 where the Catbird is most observed dur- 

 ing the nesting season the Blue Jay is 

 so abundant tliat I am inclined to the 

 opinion that the sins of the latter have 

 been shouldered upon the former. That 

 the Catbird frequents the cherry-trees 

 and berry-bushes, and uninvited helps 

 himself to the fruit, can not be denied, 

 nor can it be gainsayed that this loss 

 is more than compensated by the amount 

 of insects and worms destroyed It 

 would hardly be justice to this much- 

 abused Thrush to pass him by without 

 some mention of his song, for all our 

 singing birds, save one, there is none 

 that can excel hiui in variety and com- 

 bination of notes, though it must be 

 admitted that they are at times very 

 harsh and unpleasant. There is, how- 

 ever, great difference in individuals ; 

 some have not only a song peculiar to 

 their species, but also mimic unexcep- 

 tionably the birds by which they are 

 surrounded. A Catbird which some 

 y-ears since built for several seasons in 

 the yard of a friend, so excelled as a 

 vocalist and mimic, that he attracted the 

 attention and admiration of the whole 

 neighborhood. At intervals throughout 

 the day, from a favorite perch upon a 

 pear tree, he would drojj his tail and 

 wings, loosen his feathers until they 

 seem to stand almost on end, and as- 

 suming a comical, semi-quizzical look, 

 pour forth volumes of as pure notes as 

 ever came from a feathery throat. But 

 it was in the early morning and late eve- 

 ning that he mad# his best efforts. 

 After the sun had gone down, and the 

 western heavens were aglow with soft 



