SCREECH OWL. 



white ground. There are two color-phases of the bird, 

 one is warm and ruddy-toned, and the other is cold and 

 gray-brown-toned. The beautiful eyes are a topaz yel- 

 low. The nest is generally in the hollow of an apple- 

 tree, or some other tree not far from a dwelling. The 

 eggs are pure white. 



When one considers the character of this Owl's song 

 in connection with his bill of fare, it is not surprising 

 that the former is somewhat indicative of the nature of 

 the latter. What with mice, small birds, snakes, and 

 frogs as a standard diet, why should not one's song 

 aavor of the terrible, and cause the listener's blood to run 

 cold ! To be sure that breathless falling of the voice 

 seems to denote exhaustion, and the quavering tones ab- 

 ject terror, but after all this is pure imagination, for the 

 next moment the voice suggests that of an operatic 

 singer practising the descending chromatic scale ! What- 

 ever the eerie cry seems like, whether the screech of the 

 pioneer's wife as she is scalped by a red-handed Indian 

 under the cold rays of an indifferent moon, or the tech- 

 nical practice of the " prima donna," one thing is cer- 

 tain, all who have ever heard the strange song agree 

 that there is something uncanny about it I Mr. Chapman 

 writes : " When night comes one may hear the Screech 

 Owl's tremulous wailing whistle. It is a weird, melan- 

 choly call, welcomed only by those who love Nature's 

 voice whatever be the medium through which she 

 speaks." Mr. Ned Dearborn also writes, " The uncanny 

 cry of a Screech Owl once heard will never be forgotten." 



On one occasion several summers ago, I was hurriedly 

 invited about sundown by one of the members of the 

 family, to investigate the nature of a strange voice that 

 issued from the border of the woods near the cottage. 

 Although I knew the note of the Screech Owl perfectly 

 well, this note was less musical and only remotely re- 

 sembled it by a curious tremolo : 



Young 0ls. 



7cher-r-whieuf 

 II 



