BIRDS OF THE NIGHT. 195 



Mr. S. P. Fowler informed me by letter that " the Acadian 

 Owl has another note which we frequently hear in the 

 autumn after the breeding season is over. The parent 

 birds, then accompanied by their young, while hunting 

 their prey in the moonlight, utter a peculiar note resem- 

 bling a suppressed moan or low whistle. The little Aca- 

 dian, to avoid the annoyance of the birds he would meet 

 by day, and the blinding light of the sun, retires in the 

 morning, his feathers wet with dew and rumpled by the 

 hard struggles he has encountered in seizing his prey, to 

 the gloom of the forest or the thick swamp. There, 

 perched on a bough near the trunk of the tree, he sleeps 

 through a summer's day, the perfect picture of a used-up 

 little fellow, suffering the evil effects of a night's carouse." 



THE SCKEECH-OWL. 



The Mottled Owl, or Screech-owl, is somewhat larger 

 than the Acadian, or Whetsaw, but not so familiar as the 

 Barn Owl of Europe, which he resembles. He builds in 

 the hollows of old trees and in deserted buildings, whither 

 he resorts in the daytime for repose and security. His 

 voice is heard most frequently in the latter part of sum- 

 mer, when the young owlets are abroad. They use their 

 cries for mutual salutation and recognition. The wailing 

 note of this Owl is singularly wild and not unmusical. It 

 is not properly a screech- or a scream, like that of the hawk 

 or the peacock, but rather a sort of moaning melody, half 

 music and half bewailment. This plaintive strain is far 

 from disagreeable, though it has a cadence expressive of 

 dreariness and desolation. It might be performed on a 

 fife, beginning with D octave and running down by quar- 

 ter-tones to a third below, frequently repeating the notes 

 with occasional pauses for about one minute. The bird 

 does not slur his notes, but utters them with a sort of 



