THE SAW-WHET OWL. 



*' The Lark is but a bumpkin fowl ; 



He sleeps in his nest till morn ; 

 But my blessing upon the jolly Owl 



That all night blows his horn." 



CURIOUS name for a bird, 

 we are inclined to say when 

 we meet with it for the first 

 time, but when we hear 

 its shrill, rasping call 

 note, uttered perhaps at midnight, we 

 admit the appropriateness of " saw- 

 whet." It resembles the sound made 

 when a large-toothed saw is being filed, 

 Mr. Goss says that the natural home 

 of this sprightly little Owl is within 

 the wild woodlands, though it is occas- 

 ionally found about farm houses 

 and even cities. According to Mr. 

 Nelson, it is of frequent occurrence in 

 Chicago, where, upon some of the most 

 frequented streets in the residence por- 

 tion of the city, a dozen specimens 

 have been taken within two years. It 

 is very shy and retiring in its habits, 

 however, rarely leaving its secluded 

 retreats until late at eve, for which 

 reason it is doubtless much more com- 

 mon throughout its range than is gen- 

 erally supposed. It is not migratory 

 but is more or less of an irregular 

 wanderer in search of food during the 

 autumn and winter. It may be quite 

 common in a locality and then not be 

 seen again for several years. It is 

 nocturnal, seldom moving about in the 

 day time, but passing the time in 

 sleeping in some dark retreat; and so 

 soundly does it sleep that ofttimes it 

 may be captured alive. 



The flight of the Saw-whet so closely 

 resembles that of the Woodcook that 

 it has been killed by sportsmen, when 

 flying over the alders, through being 

 mistaken for the game bird. 



These birds nest in old deserted 

 squirrel or Woodpecker holes and small 

 hollows in trees. The eggs — usually 

 four — are laid on the rotten wood or 

 decayed material at the bottom. They 

 are white and nearly round. 



In spite of the societies formed to 

 prevent the killing of birds for orna- 

 menting millinery, and the thousands 

 of signatures affixed to the numerous 

 petitions sent broadcast all over the 

 country, in which women pledged 

 themselves not to wear birds or feathers 

 of any kind on their hats, this is essen- 

 tially a bird killing year, and the favor- 

 ite of all the feathers is that of the Owl. 

 There is an old superstition about him 

 too. He has always been considered 

 an unlucky bird, and many persons 

 will not have one in the house. He 

 may, says a recent writer, like the Pea- 

 cock, lose his unlucky prestige, 

 now that Dame Fashion has stamped 

 him with her approval. Li Hung 

 Chang rescued the Peacock feather from 

 the odium of ill luck, and hundreds of 

 persons bought them after his visit 

 who would never permit them to be 

 taken inside their homes prior to it. 

 So the Owl seems to have lost his ill 

 luck since fair woman has decided that 

 the Owl hat is " the thing," 



The small size of the Saw-whet and 

 absence of ears, at once distinguish 

 this species from any Owl of eastern 

 North America, except Richardson's, 

 which has the head and back spotted 

 with white, and legs barred with 

 grayish brown. 



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