166 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
again; it is the worst of all the birds of prey, and no excuse 
can be found for its behaviour. 
“The Barred Owl on the shelf beside the Great Horned, 
though having a smooth head, is sometimes mistaken for 
the fierce Owl and shot for its sins. Aside from sometimes 
killing birds, it is a useful Owl, eating mice, rabbits, red 
squirrels, ete. This is a remote, lonely sort of an Owl, 
with a dismal hoot, as one man described it: ‘Hoo-o00- 
000-ho-ho-ho-too-too-to-to!’ sometimes interspersed by 
a laugh and then a wail. I disturbed a young bird once, 
causing one of its parents great uneasiness. It is impos- 
sible to describe all the notes uttered by it at this time; 
they were rendered in a subdued muttering and complain- 
ing strain, parts of which sounded exactly like ‘ old-fool, 
old-fool, don’t do it, don’t do it!’ 
“There are two other owls that are very useful; one is 
found all through the United States, and the other is a 
more southern species, found usually south of New 
England. The first is the Short-eared or Marsh Owl, and 
the other is the Barn Owl. 
“All Owls, in a way, look very much alike, in spite of 
difference in colour and size. They have round, feathered 
heads, which they are obliged to turn around when they 
wish to look, as their eyes are so fixed in their sockets 
that they cannot roll them as other birds and animals do; 
some have feather horns and some do not. They all have 
talons, either covered by scales or feathers, with which 
they seize their food, which they swallow whole. But 
between the Barn Owl and his kin, the Horned, Hoot, 
and Screech Owls, there is a striking contrast. 
“Look at those two in the case; they have round faces 
