106 ; BIRDS OF OHIO. 
woods, but has been found on several occasions in an out- 
house of one of the lake summer resorts. The most of the 
reports of its occurrence fall within the colder part of the 
year, but it has been seen at Cincinnati in May (Dury), and 
it was found in May at Licking reservoir (Dawson). 
“The food of this little Owl is composed almost wholly of 
mice, of which the wood-dwelling species seem to predomi- 
nate. At times it attacks larger mammals, such as rats, half- 
grown red squirrels and chipmunks. .... It rarely molests 
small birds, unless its favorite food—mice—for some rea- 
son, is scarce. Occasionally it feeds on scraps of raw or 
cooked meat which it has been observed to pick up in the 
vicinity of camps, and in winter, in the north, it will feed 
on the carcasses of comparatively large animals. .... It 
also feeds to some extent on insects of various kinds. Thus 
it will be seen that while the diminutive size of the Saw- 
whet limits its powers of usefulness, its mode of life ren- 
ders it a useful adjunct to the farmer, and, small though it 
be, yet in districts where it abounds the number of mice it 
annually destroys must be very large.” ( Fisher.) 
143. (373.) MeEcaAscops asio (Linn.). 158. 
Screech Owl. 
Synonyms: Scops asio, Strix nevia. 
Mottled Owl, Little Horned Owl, Red Owl. 
Kirtland, Ohio Geol. Surv., 1838, 161, 179. 
This is one of the most numerous and best known of our 
owls, and is the bird from which most persons get their 
idea of what an owl is like. In the more settled districts 
this owl seems to prefer to live in buildings other than 
dwellings, or in hollow shade trees. There are numerous 
instances of captures during the evening church service 
which, from all accounts, left neither the owl nor the audi- 
ence in a worshipful frame of mind! The natural home of 
the Screech Owl is the deeper woods, where it frequently 
roosts and always nests in hollows in trees. It also spends 
the day in some thick foliaged tree. On the Oberlin Col- 
lege campus a male is in the habit of spending the day in 
