222 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



bird or mammal uttered it was then and subsequently a 

 mystery, until the captured owl screamed as I have de- 

 scribed. Then I knew. It was the same cry ; but this 

 time louder, wilder, more unearthly than before. 



In the interesting series of weather proverbs published 

 recently as " Signal Service Notes, No. IX," there are 

 three references to the hooting of owls, no one of which, 

 I think, merits attention as a weather-sign. It is said, for 

 instance, that " owls hooting indicate rain." "What of 

 the owls that cry so persistently during the summer 

 drought that, early or late, is sure to corne ? For the 

 past eleven years we have had a " dry spell " of four to 

 six weeks' duration every summer, yet the owls did not 

 fail to hoot. So too, in winter, the cat-owls scream every 

 night, whatever the weather. 



Again, " if owls scream in foul weather, it will change 

 to fair." Probably, but not because the owls scream. 

 During protracted rain-storms in autumn, and particular- 

 ly in November, the short-eared owls that frequent the 

 meadows are exceedingly noisy. Day and night, if two 

 or three chance to roost in the same tree, they will hoot 

 in concert, from sunset to midnight, and no more on the 

 day preceding a " clearing up " of the weather than dur- 

 ing the first of half a dozen rainy days. More strange 

 than all, it is said, "if owls hoot at night, expect fair 

 weather." When, if not at night, do owls hoot ? To be 

 sure, the marsh-owl screams during the day occasionally. 

 So, too, do the snowy and great horned owls ; but some 

 unusual occurrence prompts this. Surely, the regular 

 hooting hours of all owls are after they have left their 

 roosting-places and are moving about, either in search 

 of company or hunting for food, and this is after sunset. 



The principal food of our owls, except the saw-whet, 

 is the ever-abundant field-mouse. I know that both 



