XXXII 
THE BARN OWL FAMILY 
(Strigide) * 
Tus is a small family of which we have but 
one member in America, the AMERICAN Barn 
Ow. He is found all over the country, as far 
north as southern New England, but he is one of 
the shyest of birds. He comes out only at night, 
and hides so well in the day that he is not often 
seen, even where he is common. So very little 
is known of his ways. 
When he does happen to come out, and any 
one sees him, a great deal is said about him. 
For he is a very odd-looking fellow indeed. He 
is all in gray and white, clouded and speckled 
and barred, and his face is the strangest of bird 
faces. It is three-cornered, and looks more like 
a monkey’s than a bird’s. If he shows this face 
in the daylight, he is generally caught or shot, 
and the newspapers make a great fuss about him. 
Some one says he looks like a toothless little old 
woman, with a hooked nose. 
1 See Appendix, 26. 
