136 HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



polls, which they follow to feed upon. Occa- 

 sionally one will meet the Cooper's sharp- 

 shinned, and sparrow hawks. The greathorned 

 owl is most often started in deep woods, as 

 are the barred and long-eared owls, medium-sized 

 species, and the tiny saw-whet or Acadian owl. The 

 latter and also the little screech owl sometimes take 

 refuge from the cold in buildings. 



Out on the open field or marsh one may run across 

 the short-eared or marsh owl, or even the splendid 

 white arctic snowy owl. In Canada one may also 

 find the great gray, the Richardson's, and the hawk 

 owls, and from the Middle States south the odd, mon- 

 key-faced barn owl and the turkey and black vultures, 

 or buzzards. The bald eagle may appear almost 

 anywhere, and more rarely the golden eagle. 



Inland the water birds are usually scarce because 

 the waters are mostly frozen. Still, the " black " or 

 dusky duck often manages to find a living in the 

 swamps, and the goosander or large " shell drake " 

 on rivers through openings in the ice. But on the 

 coast there is quite a profusion of life. Various gulls 

 winnow over the waters, the great majority of which 

 are herring gulls, with a few of the great black-backed 

 and ring-billed species, and rare boreal kinds as 

 stragglers. Well off at sea the kittiwake may be 

 found in numbers. Loons and grebes are swimming 

 and diving. A number of species of marine ducks 

 in flocks are careering about in striking formations, 



