BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 219 



163 [372] Cryptoglaux acadica (Gmel.). 

 Saw-whet Owl; Acadian Owl. 



Rare winter visitor ; September 20 to February. 



I have entered this Owl as a winter visitor, for I have no summer records, 

 although it is possible that the bird is a resident. Mr. A. F. Gray, 1 writing of 

 the resident birds of Danvers, in 1876, states that the Acadian Owl is "a rare 

 resident at all times." Mr. J. A. Farley tells me that he has not found it in 

 Essex County in summer. 



On February 3d, 1892, a female Saw-whet Owl, evidently seeking for 

 immortality, fluttered against the windows of the Peabody Academy in Salem. 

 Its wishes were respected. 



The note of this Owl gives it its name, as it resembles strikingly the 

 whetting or filing of a saw. Like this process, it varies from a harsh scrape to 

 a high pitched rasp or whistle, at times not unmusical, but often as trying to 

 the ears as the procedure with the saw. I have heard a Saw-whet Owl produce 

 this varying note in October in Wenham with great regularity some seven 

 times a minute for an hour at a time. 



164 [373] Megascops asio (Linn.). 

 Screech Owl. 



Common permanent resident. 

 Eggs: April 15 to May 5. 



The old neglected apple trees, of which there are many in Essex County, 

 furnish an abundance of suitable holes for nesting sites for this bird. 



On September 18th, 1877, at Magnolia, I heard a great commotion among 

 some Chickadees, Black-throated Green Warblers, and Red-eyed Vireos on 

 account of the presence of an Owl in a hemlock tree. After I had shot the Owl 

 the small birds dispersed, and one of the Chickadees sang his two clear spring 

 notes in token of victory. 



I have a specimen in my collection given me by a gunner who had shot it 

 in Ipswich, in February, as it was feeding on a freshly killed hen Pheasant. I 



■A. F. Gray: Forest and Stream, vol. 6, p. 181, 1876. 



