314 OWLS 



rufous, finely streaked with black; underparts white, the feathers centrally 

 streaked with black and irregularly barred with rufous; toes rather scantily 

 feathered; eyes yellow. Gray phase. Upperparts generally brownish gray, 

 streaked with black and finely mottled with ochraceous-buff; underparts 

 white, finely streaked and more finely and irregularly barred with black, 

 more or less bordered by rufous. Nestling. Entire plumage regularly 

 barred with grayish or rufous and white. L., 9'40; W., 6'40; T., 3 '09; 

 B., '63. 



Remarks. This bird may be known by its small size and ear-tufts. Its 

 color phases are not dependent upon age, sex, or season, and both phases are 

 sometimes represented in the same brood. Between the two there is a com- 

 plete intergradation. (See frontispiece.) 



Range. E. N. Am. from Minn., Ont., and N. B. s. to ne. Tex., and Ga., 

 and w. to about the 100th meridian; accidental in England. 



Washington, common P. R. Ossining, common P. R. Cambridge, 

 common P. R. N. Ohio, common P. R. Glen Ellyn, common P. R. SE. 

 Minn., common P. R. 



Nest, generally in a hollow tree. Eggs, white, 4-6, 1*55 x 1*22. Date, 

 Chevy Chase, Md., Apl. 6; Ossining, N. Y., Apl. 6; Cambridge, Apl. 15: 

 Milton, Mass., Apl. 9; Poweshiek Co., Iowa, Apl. 9. 



The Screech Owl frequently makes its home near our dwellings, 

 and sometimes selects a convenient nook in them in which to lay its 

 eggs. But its favorite retreat is an old apple orchard, where the hollow 

 limbs offer it a secure refuge from the mobs of small birds which are 

 ever ready to attack it. A search in the trees of an orchard of this kind 

 rarely fails to result in the discovery of one or more of these feathered 

 inhabitants who may have resided there for years. They attempt to 

 escape capture by a show of resistance and a castanetlike cracking of 

 the bill, but when brought from their hiding-place sit quietly, dazzled 

 for a moment by the sudden light. They then elongate themselves 

 and almost close their eyes, thus rendering themselves as inconspicuous 

 as possible. How differently they appear when the western sky fades 

 and their day begins! Is any bird more thoroughly awake than a hungry 

 Screech Owl? With ear-tufts erected, and his great, r6und eyes opened 

 to the utmost, he is the picture of alertness. 



When night comes, one may hear the Screech Owl's tremulous, 

 wailing whistle. It is a weird, melancholy call, welcomed only by 

 those who love Nature's voice whatever be the medium through which 

 she speaks. 



"Of 255 stomachs examined, 1 contained poultry; 38, other birds; 

 91, mice; 11, other mammals; 2, lizards; 4, batrachians; 1, fish; 100, 

 insects; 5, spiders; 9, crawfish; 7, miscellaneous; 2, scorpions; 2, earth- 

 worms; and 43 were empty" (Fisher). 



1893. HASBROUCK, E. M., Am. Nat., 521-533, 638-649; ALLEN, J. A., 

 Auk, 347-351. 1896. CHADBOURNE, A. P., Auk, XIII, 321-325; XIV, 33- 

 39. (dichromatism). 1911. SHERMAN, A., Auk, XXVIII, 155-168 (home- 

 life). 



373a. O. a. floridanus (Ridgw.). FLORIDA SCREECH OWL. Much like 

 the preceding, but smaller, with the colors deeper and markings of the 

 underparts heavier. W., 5'95; T., 2'80. The rufous phase is rare in this sub- 

 species. 



