164 The ^\'l^.soN Bulletin — No. Gl. 



and the socoiul family of House Wrens were able to fly from their 

 home box. 



The song period extended in many instances well into midsunnner 

 and even later, and the end of the tirst and hesinning of the second 

 period was not clearly defined. I"p to and including Jul.v 2ud, the Ves- 

 per. Grasshopper, Cbi])ping, Field, and Song Sparrows, Chewink, Indi- 

 go Bunting. Scarlet Tanager, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos, Maryland 

 Yellow-throat, Catbird, Wood Thrush, and Robin, were in song dur- 

 ing the middle of the day, as well as early morning and evening. 

 The Worm-eating and Kentucky Warblers did not cease singing until 

 after July 10th, and the Chat until three days later. The Robin was 

 heard at 3 a. m. on the lOth and did not become entirely silent until 

 after the 29th. August 2nd marked the last song of the Black and 

 White Warbler, and the 5th of the Chipping Sparrow, Indigo Bunt- 

 ing, Scarlet Tanager, and Maryland Yellow-throat. On the 8th the 

 Chewink sang its last, and I noted the Kentucky Warbler still chip- 

 ping in the undergrowth. The Baltimore Oriole retired for the sea-, 

 son as a musician August 22nd : Field Sparrow. 2r)th ; Blue-winged 

 Warbler, 2Gth ; the Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Flicker, 

 Red-eyed Yireo and Oven-bird on the 27th ; Orchard Oriole, 2Sth ; 

 American Redstart, Septeni])er 5th, and finally the Warbling Yireo 

 ou the 14th of September. Frank L. Burns. 



Bencijn, Penn. 



A Screech Owl that Played Santa Glaus. — One afternoon last 

 February, on opening the door of my cabin in the woods near I'en- 

 sauken, N. J., I was not a little surprised to find a Screech Owl 

 within. The bird had entered the stove pipe and came down twelve 

 feet of pipe and around two elbows and gotten into the stove, where 

 its flapping about had displaced one of the stove lids, and hence it 

 had flown into the room. When I attempted to catch it the bird 

 snapped its bill fiercely and showed signs of fight, but when finally 

 caught it gave up completely and appeared to feign death, that is, it 

 allowed itself to lie in my hands limp and apparently lifeless. I 

 placed it upon the table, where it lay ui^on its side without move- 

 ment. I tried to get it to sit upon my finger, but it would allow itself 

 to fall, and only when it found that it was actually falling would it 

 attempt to cling to the finger and regain its balance. I tossed it 

 into the air, thinliing it would take wing, but it allowed itself to 

 fall to the floor, after which it flew across the room and alighted on a 

 shelf. The bird was of the rufus plumage and entirely unhurt, and 

 this passive manner of allowing itself to be handled was new to me. 

 Toward evening it became very restless and flew about the room, 

 and as I would approach it would utter a single note — a sound en- 

 tirely unknown to me in a Screech Owl — more like the squawk of a 



