THE NEIGHBORLY SCREECH OWLS 



67 



ily only went abroad 

 fall, and the Natu- 

 never able 



The fam- 

 after night- 

 ralist was 

 to see the 

 in the act 

 feeding 

 theyoung. 



They gave a daily 



Father Screech Owl lost his temper. aCCOUntof their bill 



of fare, however, in a most peculiar way. Un- 

 like the hawks, the owls swallowed their food 

 with as little ceremony as possible and later 

 threw out the remnants of bones and fur in a 

 compact little ball. By examining the ball he 

 knew exactly what they had for dinner, as well 

 as for lunch. 



For a time he felt some anxiety for the song 

 birds nesting in the garden, but as weeks 

 passed and he found remains of nothing but 

 mice and insects, he decided that screech owls 

 were more satisfactory for ridding the place 

 of mice than were cats. The little owls 

 learned after awhile that the barn was a good 

 place to go for mice, and sometimes the Na- 

 turalist would find one of them sitting in the 



