CHAPTER XXY. 



THE SAW-WHET AND OTHER OWLS. 



DOUBTLESS the little saw-whet owl can withstand any 

 degree of cold belonging to a circumpolar family, he 

 ought but, nevertheless, he is always to be found on the 

 sunny side of a tree, and along hill-sides with a southern 

 exposure. If he comes close to the house, he will find a 

 cozy corner where the sunshine strikes in full force, and 

 where never a breath of the north wind can enter. 

 Twice I have found them on the south side of the barn, 

 where they had arranged roomy nests, and had occupied 

 them for weeks. Not a single nest, large enough for 

 three, but each for itself had a protected perch, whereon 

 it sat and meditated by day, and from which in the even- 

 ing it sallied forth in search of food, returning, however, 

 long before dark. None of our birds, either resident 

 species or winter visitors, are partial to north winds. 

 Even horned larks and snow-buntings will keep out of 

 the wind and stay on the leeward slopes of snow-clad 

 fields ; and when our moisture-laden northeast wind pre- 

 vails, then birds of all kinds, even to the crows, seek 

 shelter ; and miles of walking will not give you, perhaps, 

 a glimpse of a single stray feather. 



To return to the saw-whet. Generally in a dense 

 cedar one surrounded by other trees, and not standing 

 alone and also in a tangled mass of green-brier or grape- 

 vine that has lodged in the upper branches of some tall 



