BARRED OWL. 227 



it left so suddenly, when the cow moved, as to show that it had 

 mistaken the object on which it perched for something else. 



In former years, I used to find the Barred Owl regularly every 

 fall .in the ravines along the south shore of the Dundas marsh, but 

 now many of the pines and hemlocks which formed an inviting 

 retreat are cut down, and the bird has sought for greater seclusion 

 elsewhere. Its black eyes are at all times a ready mark to distin^ 

 guish it from any other member of its family. 



This is one of the noisiest of the Owls, and his weird, uncanny- 

 cries are often a subject of interest to the lonely wayfarer while 

 dozing by his camp-fire after dark. Nearly all the earlier writers 

 give the Barred Owl credit for being one of the most destructive 

 to poultry and game-birds. Dr. Fisher, after giving a number of 

 extracts to that effect, says : "To all this testimony, which could be 

 increased by the addition of many other notes attesting the destruc- 

 tiveness of the species to poultry and game, the investigations of the 

 writer are in direct variance. Of the 109 stomachs examined, only 

 four contained the remains of poultry, and in one, traces of a game- 

 bird were found." 



One peculiarity of this species, which, we are glad to say, is not 

 very common among birds, is given by Dr. Fisher, as follows : " This 

 Owl seems to be more given to cannibalistic habits than any of the 

 other species. In seven stomachs examined, the writer found the 

 remains of smaller owls among the contents, and from two different 

 sources comes the record of the remains of Screech Owls being found 

 under similar circumstances. Now and then small birds are killed 

 by this species, but mammals furnish a large proportion of its food. 

 The remains of mice, rabbits, squirrels (red, gray and flying), shrews, 

 moles, and occasionally weasels, have been found in the stomach 

 contents." ,, j . 



The species, owing to its large size, is capable of consuming num- 

 bers of mice at one meal. Dr. Merriam found the remains of at 

 least a dozen red-backed mice in a single specimen killed near Moose 

 River, in northern New York. . -, . ^ 



Dr. Fisher's evidence, which is indisputable, places this species in 

 a much more favorable light, as a friend to the farmer, than it has 

 hitherto occupied, and we hope it will get the benefit and be duly 

 protected, as it deserves to be. It is placed in Class c, in which the 

 good done balances the evil. 



