PEATE -E—AGADIAN OWL. SAW-WHET- OWL. 
Nyctala acadica. 
Above reddish-brown spotted with white; beneath grayish-white 
splashed with brown; much white on throat and neck ; tail somewhat 
barred ; iris yellow ; bill and claws, dark. Length, 8 inches. 
Resident.* The smallest of our Owls, and, though from its shyness not frequently 
seen, not an uncommon bird. It nests in hollow trees or stumps, or in holes in rocks. 
Audubon says: ‘‘ The sound of its love-notes bears a great resemblance to the noise pro- 
duced by filing the teeth of a large saw.” It is this similarity which has gained the bird 
its common name Saw-whet. 
*It is believed that no individual bird inhabits permanently, that is throughout the year, any one locality, but 
that all birds are migratory. Some species, as the American Goldfinch, the Chickadee and the Hairy, and Downy 
Woodpeckers, usually have representatives here at all seasons. But the individuals seen in Winter have spent the 
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