224 



THE BARRED OR "RAIN OWL." 



The Barred Owl is a resident and breeds generally through- 

 out the State; it is most numerous in the mountainous and 

 wooded districts. In different parts of Wayne, Susquehanna 

 and Wyoming counties, where four or five years ago the Barred 

 Owl was very common, it is called "Rain" Owl, as it was as- 

 serted its dismal cry was most frequently heard before 

 a storm. To distinguish an owl finni a hawk, remember the 

 owl s eyi^s ar»» piiiiated in ine front of the head and look for- 

 virard. while the hawk's eyes are directed to either side. The 

 extremely soft and downy plumage of owls is such that their 

 flight is almost noiseless. During the daylight we usually 

 find them concealed in hollow trees or dense foliage. While it 

 is generally an accepted fact that owls are nocturnal in their 

 habits, it is not true that they are exclusively so. The Snowy 

 and Hawk Owls are of a decidedly diurnal nature, and In 

 cloudy weather or in early twilight it is not unusual to see 

 the Great Horned Owl sally forth in quest of prey. 



PREFER TO KILL THEIR OWN FOOD. 



Owls, unlike certain other birds of prey, never, it is stated, 

 unless reduced to the utmost extremity, feed on carrion, but 

 subsist on such food as they are able to kill. Their dietary, 

 although variable w-ith locality and circumstances, consists 

 mainly of small quadrupeds (principally mice). Insects, chiefly 

 beetles and grasshoppers, and some few of the smaller kinds 

 of wild birds. With the exception of the Great Horned Owl 

 and perhaps the Barred, all the owls occurring regularly In this 

 Commonwealth deserve the fullest protection which can be 

 given to them by the farmer and horticulturist. 



The owls, like many other birds of prey, eject from the 

 mouth in small ball-like masses, the indigestible portions of 

 their food, such as hair, bones, etc. These little balls or pel- 

 lets are frequently to be found in great quantities about lo- 

 calities where these birds resort during the daytime. The eggs 

 are white, nearly round, and commonly number from three to 

 five. Owls deiwsit their eggs in hollow trees or in the deserted 

 nests of hawks and crows. Their cries are loud and dismal. 



The general form of owls is short and heavy; the head and 

 eyes are usually very large: bill very much like a hawk's, but 

 never toothed, and often almost hidden by long bristle-like 

 feathers; eyes encircled by a ring of radiating bristly feathers; 

 tarsi (shins), and in some species toes also, denselv feathered. 



In some species the heads are furnished with long erectile 

 tufts of feathers, which are commonly Qfilled horns; ears in 

 some species are remarkably large. 



