bution. In summer especially, crows 

 collect in flocks for the purpose of tor 

 menting the great staring eyed bird. 

 Mostly nocturnal in habits he only asks 

 of them to be left alone in daylight. 

 Where he frequents, a most startling 

 " who-hoo-hoo-hoo-whoo-whoo " often 

 breaks the monotony of night. 



The barred owl is a common resident. 

 This bird from its peculiar call is spoken 

 of as the hoot owl. It is large, umber 

 brown in color and transversely barred, 

 whence the name. The sudden "who- 

 who-who-who-who-who-who-r-i -e-you " 

 shouted just overhead some dark night 

 will in the language of Shakespeare 

 "Make your hair rise up, like quills upon 

 the fretful porcupine." 



But by far the most numerous is 

 the common little screech owl. A little 

 fellow from .six to ten inches long, with 

 conspicuous ear tufts, the general color 

 of which is sometimes gray and some 

 times red. It is by far the most common 

 owl about here. Nearly every season a 

 brood is raised in the woods nearest the 

 house. He is as near to being friendly 

 as an owl can become. Were it not 

 for the unearthly screech with which it 

 gives vent to its feelings, it would be a 

 desirable companion. As it is I must 

 confess I have a liking for him. As a 

 friend to the farmer he ranks high. 



Among other resident owls might be 

 mentioned the American barn owl, and 

 the American long-eared and short-eared 

 owls. The sparrow hawk is rather com 

 mon, though none of the birds of prey 

 are common in the sense in which robins 

 or blue birds are common. It is rare 

 that more than a pair will occupy a 

 piece of timber or remain about one 

 farm. He may be known by the 

 rufous back, tail chestnut-rufous with 

 black band across, grayish blue back 

 with peculiar dark patches on the sides 

 of the face. He is rather a small being 

 from eight to twelve inches in length. 

 Last winter one of them found out that 

 corn-shocks were inhabited by mice and 



when I was hauling out fodder, kept a 

 sharp lookout and frequently managed 

 to get one. I have known him to swoop 

 down within a few feet of me and 

 pounce on a luckless victim. He kept 

 this up all winter, and I believe raised a 

 family the next summer, though I did 

 not see the nest. 



The red-tailed hawk stands second to 

 the red-shouldered in point of numbers. 

 It is often called the "hen-hawk" or 

 "chicken-hawk." It is one of those 

 large hawks that circle about in summer. 

 Though occasionally one of them falls 

 from grace and becomes a chicken-eater, 

 the most of them live off of batrachians. 

 smaller animals and reptiles. 



The red-shouldered is more common 

 than the red-tailed in the proportion of 

 about five to one, and sometimes more. 

 They are much alike in general appear 

 ance and action. They have nested in 

 our woods for several years. A neigh 

 bor, in a spirit of misguided zeal, killed 

 one of the old birds and a half-grown 

 one three years ago. The remaining 

 bird screamed about for several days but 

 must have found a mate, for soon there 

 was a pair again. Among other resi 

 dent hawks are the cooper hawk, sharp- 

 skinned hawk and marsh hawk. 



The foregoing is a list of the resident 

 birds that have come under my observa 

 tion here at my home, near Logansport. 

 Doubtless the list might be increased, 

 for one person never sees all. All birds 

 are friends, but those who can withstand 

 the rigors of a northern Indiana winter 

 certainly merit very high praise. In the 

 days of flying frost and snow it is a 

 great pleasure to come upon a flock of 

 sparrows disporting in the edge of the 

 thicket, to hear the quail calling softly 

 over fields or drifted snow, to catch a 

 sight of the cardinal grosbeak's flaming 

 coat or the jay's blue and purple, or have 

 your woodland tramp enlivened by the 

 nuthatch's soft nasal "yank, yank" or 

 the chickadee's merry lay. 



WARREN T. HIGGINS. 



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