44 



BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 



More welcome tenants than the House Sparrows 

 are a pair of Screech Owls, who for years have 

 reared their broods in a dovecotelike gable, where 

 they are beyond the reach of nest robbers of all 

 kinds. During the winter they apparently are ab- 

 sent, nor indeed are they seen until June, when, each 

 evening at sundown, one of the pair, probably the 



23. Screech Owl. 



male, takes his post at the entrance to its home and 

 gives utterance to the crooning refrain which some- 

 times follows the so-called tremulous " screech." 

 But the latter I never hear at this season. In spite 

 of the poor light prevailing at this hour, the bird's 

 stillness has tempted repeated trials to secure its 

 picture, and the most successful, made with a four- 



