42 



AMERICAN 0RN1TII0L0G\. 



bright, yellow eyes peering out at 

 you from the mass of fluffy, gray- 

 ish down that envelopes him from 

 head to foot. How defiantly he 

 snaps his bill at you if annoyed. 

 He seems to say: "I'm small, but 

 take care." 



An experience of the Worcester 

 Natural History Society shows 

 that they are very affectionate 

 towards each other sometimes, but 

 1 think this case was an exception. 

 The society came into possession 

 of a pair of screech owls and placed 

 them cogether in a room. The 

 next morning, on entering the 

 room to feed them, the most con- 

 spicuous objects were a solitary 

 owl, and on the floor, a bunch of 

 feathers, which anyone at all 

 versed in ornithology would at 

 once pronounce those of Megas- 

 cops asio. The remaining owl did 

 not appear to be very near the 

 point of starvation. In all proba- 

 bility, at some prior date, they had 

 both been suitors for the hand of 

 the same owless, and at this time 

 had a good opportunity to settle 

 old scores. 



Speaking of screech owls al- 

 ways carries my thoughts back to 

 my early school days, in the cor- 

 ner of a yard in Barrington, R. 1., 

 stood one of the largest elms that 

 1 ever saw. it had numerous de- 

 cayed limbs which each year fur- 

 nished homes for four of five pairs 

 of screech owls. At all hours of 

 the day, one or more heads could 

 be seen at the openings. These 

 birds were doubly secure, as the 

 nests were between forty and fifty 

 feet from the ground, and the 

 owner of the place had very 



strong objections, as any sensible 

 farmer should, to the disturbance of 

 his owls. 



The little screech owls are very 

 useful in destroying rats or mice, 

 and they frequently take up their 

 abode in old barns or pigeon 

 houses, and I might add that soon 

 after, the mice take their depart- 

 ure. 



These little feathered mousers 

 are very light and active, and fly 

 swiftly about without a perceptible 

 sound. You can imagine the sur- 

 prise and horror of a mouse, en- 

 gaged in his midnight search for 

 edibles, to suddenly find himself 

 grasped by eight small, sharp tal- 

 ons, and conveyed to a convenient 

 beam (for the owl). What follows 

 may interest the reader, but the 

 mouse is probably beyond any fur- 

 ther concern in the matter. Slow- 

 ly, and with the deliberation that 

 always attends an owl's move- 

 ments when not in the pursuit of 

 prey, he proceeds to swallow the 

 mouse, head foremost. Six or 

 eight hours later a small ball of fur, 

 all that remains of the poor little 

 mouse, will be ejected from the 

 owl's mouth. 



They also eat large numbers 

 of grass-hoppers and insects. Eng- 

 lish sparrows prove a very accept- 

 able article of diet, as do other 

 small birds occasionally. 



Now there are many persons 

 who never notice good deeds, no 

 matter how numerous, but let 

 a single fault present itself and 

 they will condemn the perpetrator 

 forever. While the screech owl 

 has his faults, he has good traits 

 to counterbalance them many times 

 over. 



