A First Glance at the Birds. 



The screech-owl is to me the most 

 attractive member of the order, though 

 why such a sweet-voiced bird should 

 have so forbidding a name I have never 

 been able to discover. It has a variety 

 of notes, all of them agreeable, but its 

 most characteristic call is a low, trem- 

 bling, flute-like whistle. It is a small 

 bird, and in California always of a mot- 

 tled-gray color. It nests in a hole in a 

 live-oak, and is very abundant in the 

 oak regions of the state. 



The great horned owl is a giant in 

 comparison. He is the typical hooting 

 ov/1, with his tu hoo\ tu hoo\ sounding in 

 solemn cadence through the night. The 

 woodland is dear to him and he may be 

 found in the depths of the pine forest. 



I will not tarry over the long and 

 short-eared owls, the former an inhab- 

 itant of the underbrush and the latter 

 of the marshes, for both species are gen- 

 erally distributed over the North 

 American continent. There are three 

 other species, however, which are so 



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