THE BIRDS OF SPRINGFIELD AND VICINITY. 21 



were interfered with 1)\' tlie mother hawk, and e\en the doves 

 that had been driven out were permitted to nest within a few 

 feet of their former home. The hawks nearly, if not quite, 

 exterminated the mice that at first were so numerous. 



364. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (Gmel. ). 



American Osprey. Conunon durinj; botli tlie spring^ and 

 autumn migration; often seen here near the Connecticut river, 

 during the summer, but I have no knovN'ledge of its breeding 

 in the vicinit>- of vSpringfield. Once while on one of the 

 meadows bordering the river, on a foggy day in April, I saw 

 an Osprey that had been .shot fall to the ground slightl>' 

 wounded, and there uttered the most piteous .screams that I 

 ever heard come from a bird. Immediately, there appeared, 

 out of the fog above, a dozen other Osprey s, who for a long 

 time circled around their injured relative with cries of 

 .sympathy. 



365. Strix pratincola Bonap. American Barn Owl. 

 Accidental visitor from the vSoutli; one was taken in Spring- 

 field, in May, i86<S, which is one of the few Alas.sachu. setts 

 records. (See Allen's Rarer Birds of Ma.ssachusetts. ) 



366. Asio wilsonianus (Less.). American Long- 

 eared Owl. Tolerably common resident. 



367. Asio accipitrinus (Pall.). Short-eared Owl. 

 A common spring and autumn \-i.sitor. During open winters a 

 number .stay with us, and I have .seen it here in January, when 

 the .snow was very deep; it occa.sionally breeds, but at no 

 sea.son now is it as numerous as fifteen years ago, when it was 

 often found in colonies. Mr. E. O. Damon .stated that he once 

 .saw a hundred of the.se birds together on the Northampton 

 meadows. 



368. Syrnium nebulosum (Forst.). Barred-Owl. 

 A rather uncommon resident, but occa.sionally quite numerous 

 in late autumn. Mr. William Street of Easthampton has 

 twice found the ne.st of this owl. (See Baird, Brew.ster & 

 Ridway's North American Birds, Vol. Ill, page 37.) 



