158 Sherman, Nest Life of the Screech Owl. [April 



The Owl of 1909 went out every evening and such procedure was 

 expected of this one without fulfillment. Constant incubation 

 appears to have begun on the first day of April after which she was 

 frightened out on two evenings, one of them being the stormy night 

 just mentioned. In order to count the eggs she was pried up with 

 a stick thrust through a peep-hole. Out she would not go although 

 her exit was anxiously awaited night after night until the thir- 

 teenth of the month, when once more she was frightened out in 

 order that the eggs might be weighed. Then 248 grains was the 

 weight of egg No. 1 : 250 grains that of No. 2; 236 grains of No. 3, 

 and 219 grains of No. 4. When fresh probably they weighed about 

 the same as the eggs of the previous year, viz. : 252, 253, 255 and 

 261 grains, these figures being arranged in the order of their sizes. 

 Just before it hatched egg No. 3 weighed 199 grains and No. 4 

 weighed 193 grains. The owlet from the last egg tipped the scales 

 at 153 grains as it came from the shell. Eggs No. 1 and No. 2 

 were found to have hatched on April 27; No. 3 hatched the follow- 

 ing night, and No. 4 about five o'clock in the afternoon of April 29, 

 showing that the period of their incubation was about twenty-six 

 days. 



Unlike many other young birds newly hatched Screech Owls 

 are in one of their most attractive guises. Covered to the tips of 

 their toes with a thick white down, they appealed strongly to the 

 hearts of the human mothers who saw them, and as one of them 

 remarked the little owls "looked as if they had white socks on." 

 As they tumbled about in their nest they very forcibly suggested 

 human babies in fleecy white cloaks that are learning to creep. 

 Held in the hand with their beaks downward and out of sight they 

 looked like diminutive blind kittens; perhaps the most noticeable 

 thing about them at that age was their large heads. But this 

 winning aspect of the nestlings was of short duration. In a few 

 days the pin-feathers began to show in the white down which soon 

 turned to a dirty gray color. By the time they were twelve days 

 old they had become most repulsive, exceedingly filthy to handle 

 with an appearance that was decidedly repellant. Perfect minia- 

 tures were they of a doddering, half-witted old man: the blue 

 beak was prominent and suggested a large hooked nose, while 

 the down below it took the shape of a full gray beard, and that on 



