OWLS. 57 



Like other owls in this respect it is a great 

 destroyer of mice, in search of which it comes 

 into barns. The Great Grey Owl is a winter 

 bird of the lonely forest of larger size even than 

 the Great Horned Owl. The Barred Owl is a 

 smaller bird much resembling the last. 



The Hawk Owl (Surnia fimerea) is a small- 

 sized, trimly -formed bird much resembling a hawk 

 both in its general appearance and diurnal habits. 



I'he smallest of the family is the Acadian, or 

 Saw - whet Owl, a grey and brown - plumed little 

 fellow eight inches in length. Its most peculiar 

 characteristic is its call note of kook^ kook, 

 sounded continuously during the still hours of 

 calm, clear moonlit nights, in March and April. 

 The constant and regular repetition of this single 

 note, echoing through the rigid forest, sounds 

 like the tolling of a bell, ringing out its steady 

 peal on the starlit brilliancy of the crystal scene. 

 This curious little bird nests in the hollow of a 

 tree, laying five or six white eggs. Like most 

 other Owls, it nests in April, having its young 

 well advanced when the summer's struggle begins. 



