Horned and Hoot Owls 



mals ; frogs, fish, lizards, and insects filled the remainder, which 

 goes to prove that, in spite of the average farmer's belief to 

 the contrary, this owl renders him positive service. To see the 

 barred owl is to identify it at once by its smooth, bland, almost 

 human face, its mild blue black eyes, and the absence of horns 

 from its round head. 



Woods, waysides, and sheltered farms are the barred owl's 

 hunting grounds; and because it so frequently lodges through the 

 sunny hours in hay lofts and stacks, many people call it the barn 

 owl, a name which should be discouraged by disuse to save the 

 endless confusion arising by the application of the same popular 

 name to two or more different species. True barn owls are not 

 only a distinct species, but constitute a separate family. The un- 

 earthly, weird voices of several owls make each one indifferently 

 a "hoot owl" to the average listener. 



In February, the barred owl loses his unsocial, hermit-like in- 

 stinct, and for his mate's society, at least, shows a devoted prefer- 

 ence. The pair go about looking for a natural cavity in a tree in 

 dense or swampy woods; but that failing them, they unscrupu- 

 lously take possession of a hawk's or crow's nest, tenaciously 

 holding it year after year, as all owls do their homes. They rarely 

 build a nest of their own, or take pains to line a cavity or to alter 

 an appropriated tenement unless it should need repairs. Mr. C. 

 L. Rawson has found a set of eggs lying on a solid cake of ice 

 near Norwich, Conn., so early is the nesting done. A camera 

 can take no more amusing picture than a group of owlets perch- 

 ing on a naked limb near their cradle, their downy feathers 

 ruffled by the March wind, a surprised, comical expression on 

 their faces, their bodies closely huddled together to save warmth. 



The Great Gray, or Spectral Owl (Scotiaptex cinereum), the 

 largest owl in the world, is dusky, mottled with white on its up- 

 per parts, and the white under parts are broadly streaked on the 

 breast, and on the sides and underneath irregularly barred and 

 streaked with dusky. It has no ear tufts ; its legs and feet are 

 heavily feathered, and both bill and eyes are yellow. It is a very 

 rare visitor from the far north, and as it keeps to dense woods, 

 few bird students have been so fortunate as Dr. Dall, who has 

 caught it in his hands. He declares it is " a stupid bird." No 

 owl that is heavy with sleep while humans are wide awake is 



