874 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



The nights are cold; the moon shines with a peculiar 

 brilliancy, and we are liable to have a snow-storm or 

 two. It is then that we hear the familiar notes of the 

 owls, either late of an evening or during the early morn- 

 ing hours. Of these, perhaps the notes of the Screech 

 Owl are most often heard, and next to this species, maybe, 

 the Great Horned Owl. Once in a while, however, come 

 the curious notes of our little Saw-whet Owl (C. a. 

 arcadica), although this bird may most often be heard 

 during the daytime. The notes so closely resemble the 

 filing of a saw, that the bird, long years ago, received its 

 vernacular name from that fact. This cute little owl 



living ones, as well as others in spirits. Both sexes 

 were represented, the males being much the handsomer, 

 with their sides striped with jet black, and the under 

 parts throat and middle sides of a brilliant blue, 

 bordered with the same intense black. 



The writer was about to describe this lizard as new, 

 when it was discovered that one of the curators of the 

 National Museum had a description of it up in type and 

 about to appear. It belongs to the lizards we call "Swifts" 

 in the vernacular, and Sceloporus in technical science. 

 This one received the name of 6". u. woodi, being named 

 for Mr. Nelson R. Wood. Mr. Young describes it as 



one of the pygmies of the group has the habit, during one of the swiftest of the swift, and is captured only 

 the daytime, of 

 sitting out in 

 plain sight and 

 falling fast 

 asleep. He may 

 choose the top 

 twig of some 

 isolated bush in 

 an open field, 

 or the dead, 

 projecting limb 

 of a tree occu- 

 pying a similar 

 situation. His 

 appearance on 

 such occasions 

 is well shown 

 in Figure 12 of 

 the present ar- 

 ticle. This lit- 

 tle owl has fre- 

 quently been 

 made captive 

 and kept as a 

 pet; but it is_ 

 the exception to 

 have it thrive 

 under such con- 

 ditions. It 

 seems to de- 

 mand consider- 

 a b 1 e exercise 

 and the same 



kinrl of fnnA it THI S IS A MOST UNUSUAL IF NOT UNIQUE PICTURE, TAKEN IN SITU, OF THE HARLEQUIN 



Kina 01 100a 11 milkweed caterpillar 



Fig. 14^-Drury gave the moth of this insect its scientific name, which is Euchaetias egle. 



secures in na- 

 ture. 



Passing from owls to lizards, it is an interesting fact 

 to note that, old as our country is in point of settlement, 

 we still meet with undescribed species of animals, even 

 in the long-settled districts. This was the case with the 

 very beautiful little lizard here published for the first 

 time in Figure 13. The specimen was received by the 

 writer alive from Haines City, Florida, sent him by 

 Mr. R. H. Young, a member of the American Forestry 

 Association, who had secured it near his home. Several 

 others of the same species accompanied it, both dead and 



with the great- 

 est difficulty. It 

 is a perfectly 

 harmless little 

 fellow, and 

 subsists chiefly 

 upon insects of 

 various species. 

 We have a 

 good many spe- 

 cies and sub- 

 species of these 

 swifts in var- 

 ious parts of 

 the United 

 States, this be- 

 ing one of the 

 smaller forms. 

 Others are 

 c o n s i derably 

 larger, perhaps 

 three or four 

 times as large. 

 They are per- 

 fectly harmless 

 little creatures 

 and are fre- 

 quently kept as 

 pets. We have 

 no venomous 

 lizards in our 

 reptilian fauna, 

 although very 

 many people 

 regard with dis- 

 trust and sus- 

 picion the famous "Gila Monster" or Heloderma. 



The interesting subject presented in Figure 14 is a 

 very unusual one, as it was taken without disturbing a 

 single thing shown in the picture. In the lower left-hand 

 corner is seen the white bud of the Bindweed, and above 

 it, slightly to the right, some flowers of the Blue Boneset. 

 Several other plants are included among them a withered 

 thistle. What is most interesting, however, is the central 

 subject, the one for which this picture was taken. This 

 consists of three pods of the common Milkweed, 



