164 THE HAWKS AND OWLS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



iiig- to show bow active these little rodents are during the jiight, a period 

 when most of the world sleeps. Occasionally a track stops abrubtly, 

 and while the observer is trying to read more of the history written 

 in the snow, his eyes catch the faint impression of a pair of wing 

 tips near Avhere the trail ends, and instantly he recognizes that a 

 tragedy has been enacted. Beside the different species of mice, the 

 Screech Owl feeds on other small mammals, such as chipmunks, shrews, 

 moles, and occasionally bats. During warm spells in winter it 

 forages quite extensively and stores up in its home considerable 

 quantities of food for use during inclement weather. It may be said 

 in this connection that with one exception the only specimens of 

 pine mice procured by the writer in southern New York were taken 

 from the storehouses of this Owl. 



Frogs are devoured greedily, while other batrnchians and small 

 reptiles are occasionally eaten. Crawfish are sometimes found among 

 the stomach contents, but not so often as in the case of the Barred Owl. 

 Evidence goes to show that at times this Owl is an expert fisherman. 

 Cai^t. Charles E. Bendire found it feeding (m fish in the IS'orthwest, and 

 the following note by Mr. M. A. Frazar, from Watertown, Mass., shows 

 that it will sometimes travel a long distance for this food: 



"On November 20,1870,1 took from a Mottled Owl's hole {Scojjs 

 asio) the hinder half of a Woodcock (P/«7o/<e?a. minor). Within two 

 weeks after I took two Owls from the same hole, and on the 19th of 

 January last 1 had the good fortune to take another. After extracting 

 the Owl I put in my hand to see what else there was of interest, and 

 found sixteen Horned Pouts {Amiurns atrarins), four of which were 

 alive. When it occurred to me that all the ponds in the vicinity were 

 under at least 2 feet of snow and ice, I could scarcely conjecture 

 where the Horned Pouts could have been captured. After visiting all 

 the ponds I found they had most probably been captured in one fully 

 a mile away, where some boys had been cutting holes through the ice 

 to catch i)ickerel bait. The Owl probably stationed himself by the 

 edge of the hole and seized the fish as they came to the surface. What 

 a busy time he must have had flying 32 miles after sixteen Horned 

 Pouts." (Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, vol. ii, July, 1877, p. 80.) 



Mr. Willard E. Treat, of East Hartford, Conn., speaking of this 

 habit, says: "I secured a Screech Owl February 2, 1889, which was 

 caught in a steel trap, the latter having been set in a spring where 

 there were a number of small fish. When found it was dead, having 

 been drowned, and its legs were more or less covered with fish scales. 

 The trap was at least 4 or 5 inches below the surface of the water, 

 w^hich seems to show that the Owl must have plunged into the water 

 in order to have got caught. This is the only instance in which I 

 have known this species to enter the water for the purpose of securing 

 fish." (Auk, vol. Yi, 1889, p. 189-390.) 



