^iioj?- 111 ] Coolidge, Notes on the Screech Owl. 53 



in an agreeable mood, he would allow his head to be stroked, but 

 if the finger went too far down his back or touched his breast, 

 the threatening bill opened. Sometimes, taking my finger in 

 his claw, he would bite it gently all over, as if trying to discover 

 its properties. 



The owl is much more like other birds than may be generally 

 supposed. My pet lacked the constraint and the desire to hide 

 which wild owls usually show in one's presence, and accordingly 

 his body was generally relaxed and tilted forward like that of a 

 song bird. When quiet the owl perched on one foot and curled 

 the other away under his feathers. Again, like other birds, he 

 spent much time in preening. The fact that in captivity he could 

 exercise very little may account for his occasionally stretching 

 first one wing and then the other to its full extent downward be- 

 hind him, and at the same time rising on his feet to his full height. 

 Sometimes he raised his wings above his back and shook them. 

 His disposition was stoical as to sounds: he would pay no atten- 

 tion to whistles, squeaks, or banging on the cage. One's move- 

 ments were watched with great alertness, however, and if they 

 were sudden, he would sometimes start. 



My owl was released by a friend on September 15 of the same 

 year: he seemed to be unwell at the time. During his three 

 months' captivity he learned to trust people so that although he 

 was ever ready to scold or bite, he would not seek concealment 

 or flight at their approach. But except for this partial trustful- 

 ness, my pet was probably but little different in instincts from 

 the owl that had always been free. 



II. — Mating of the Screech Owl. 



Visits at sunset in the spring of 1903 to the residence of a pair 

 of Screech Owls near Cambridge disclosed the nature of their 

 mating. The owl's dwelling was a hole about a foot in diameter 

 and about twenty feet from the ground in a large elm. After 

 my discovery of the tree in February, 1900, it was inhabited by 

 a gray screech owl every winter until that of 1904-1905. As the 

 bird's habits remained unchanged, and as it came and went at 

 the same seasons, it is probable that the same gray screech owl 



