8 M as s achus etts Audub o n S o ciety 



JUDGE AIKEN'S OWL 

 {From "Record of Walks and Talks with Nature") 



The following interesting letter was received for publication through 

 courtesy of Judge Charles F. Jenney. Undoubtedly Chief Justice Aiken is 

 correct in deciding that the bird in question was a barred owl. In fact, this 

 species has visited the vicinity of Mount Vernon Street several winters in 

 the not distant past, hence we may conclude that there really is some attrac- 

 tion which induces one of Athene's favorite birds to visit this neighborhood 

 so often: — 



My dear judge: Mount Vernon Street, Boston, No. 65, has an owl — at 

 least three days ago it had one — a real live owl, not a stuffed one put out 

 to scare English sparrows. The owl appeared last Monday on one of the 

 street trees, seeking, it may be, a hunting ground; he chose well. The next 

 day he took up his stand in the quadrangular area back of No. 65, where a 

 neighbor has placed some nesting-boxes for pigeons on the window-sills. 

 Here the pigeons nest and rear their young, all the time finding regular feed. 

 There has been some difference of opinion as to the desirability of this 

 immediate proximity of the pigeons; the owl, however, has settled the ques- 

 tion for the present. 



During the day the owl was within easy observation, resting on window- 

 sills and railing undisturbed by people within a few feet of him. He was 

 seen to inspect the nesting-boxes and following the inspection the area near- 

 by was covered with scattered pigeon feathers among which was a pigeon's 

 head and two meatless wings. 



Through an open window he got into one of the apartments, and, be- 

 wildered by the light, he flew against a mirror, tore up curtains, and did 

 some other damage. An empty hat-box was thrown over him and he was 

 cast out of the window. He has not been since since; the pigeons, too, have 

 departed. 



An observer who was shown "The Birds of New York" picked the great 

 gray owl as the most accurate portrait, but what Brewster says in his "Birds 

 of the Cambridge region" seems to indicate the barred owl as the visitor. 



A lady who has passed many years of her life in this vicinity is confi- 

 dent she saw this identical owl twenty years ago on a tree in the backyard 

 of the Curtises, who are long residents on Mount Vernon Street. This in- 

 dicates in the bird a meritorious steadfastness of attachment. Another con- 

 sideration should not be omitted. Within a stone's throw of 65 Mount 

 Vernon Street was the home of Chief Justice Shaw. Still nearer for two 

 years lived Daniel Webster in the house later of Charles Francis Adams. 

 At one time Senator Lodge had an interest in 65 Mount Vernon, and across 

 the street lives the editor of the Atlantic Monthly. Owls possess wisdom or 

 are the symbols of wisdom, which may be the same thing, and this visit may 

 have been to ascertain how this vicinity is supplied today in that respect. 

 Yours ornithologically, John A. Aiken. 



Boston, December 13, 1920. 



Late in February a barred owl, possibly this same bird, was observed 

 for several days roosting on a tree at East Boston. — The Editor. 



