810 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



1889; another, June 28. They were in the juvenile or aibifrons stage. 

 He thinks they undoubtedly were raised there. In Boone County, Mr. 

 J. E. Beasley says, it occurs both summer and winter. Prof. B. W. 

 Evermann thus gives an account of its nesting in Carroll County, May 

 8, 1883: "In an old thicket near Burlington I found six young 

 Saw-whets in a hole in a dead elm. The hole was about twenty feet 

 from the ground, and the young Owls were able to fly." He adds he 

 has heard it at various times in the spring. (The Auk, Oct., 1888, 

 p. 351.) This is the most southerly record of its nesting (Bendire, L. 

 H. N. A. B., I, p. 350). 



The winter of 1886-7 they seem to h;i\c Ix-cii "vinsmlly dis- 

 tributed over the State. Dr. A. W. Bray ton informs me that 

 winter they were rather common in Indianapolis. The fall of 

 1894 Mr. Jesse Earlle found them near Greencastle. The following 

 summary of his notes is given. November 10 found one so tame he 

 caught it in his hands. November 26 saw another, but failed to 

 catch it. It was in the identical place where he caught the first one. 

 It had brownish eyes. November 27 found one, a male, dead, on the 

 railroad, about a mile from where he found the others. December 15 

 saw two; caught one, which was at the same place where first was 

 taken, in a butterfly net. One of these was probably the same our 

 seen November 26, as its eyes were similar. December 17, caught the 

 remaining one, with brownish eyes, a female. He tried to keep this 

 and the first one taken, alive, but after about a month they died. 

 They have been reported from the following additional counties: 

 Franklin, April 29, 1883 (Raymond); Tippecanoe (Dr. E. Test); 

 Allen, rare (Stockbridge); Dekalb (B. W. McBride, Snyder); Fayette, 

 January 10, 1887 (Eehme); Monroe, November, 1886 (Evermann); 

 Wabash, November 20, 1894 (Ulrey and Wallace). 



The Saw-whet Owl is decidedly nocturnal. It seems totally blinded 

 and helpless in bright daylight. It is the smallest Owl found within 

 this State. The absence of tufts on its head renders it easily distin- 

 guishable from the Screech Owl. They usually nest in cavities in 

 trees, sometimes, perhaps, beginning in April and continuing 

 through May. It is thought that both sexes assist in incubation. The 

 note of this Owl is rasping, reminding one somewhat of the sound 

 made by filing a cross-cut saw. From this it derives its name. Of 22 

 stomachs examined. 17 contained mice; 1, a bird; 1, an insect, and 3 

 were empty. (Dr. Fisher, Bull. No. 3, Div. 0. and M., IT. S. Dept. Agr., 

 p. 162.) Its favorite food is mice, and it is friendly to all whom the 

 mice despoil. 



