82 American Birds 



Our neighbor says his barn is worn out, and resembles 

 Mr. Burroughs' apple tree, which was not much good for 

 apples but always bore a good crop of birds. The owl 

 home is a valuable asset of the barn. The owner knows 

 something of owls as well as of fruit trees; no other barn 

 about the neighborhood shelters such a valuable family 

 of birds, and he guards them as closely as he guards his 

 cherries. The nest has never been robbed, and when we 

 spoke of photographing his owls he looked doubtful until 

 we promised him the birds should not be harmed. 



The barn owl is a queer-looking tenant. No one is very 

 fond of an owl. More than that, his actions are against 

 him. It's natural that we should not care much for a fel- 

 low who is up and sneaking around all night and sleeping 

 through the day. There is always some suspicion about a 

 night-prowler, whether he be bird, man, or beast. How- 

 ever, I have often watched the barn owl, and have studied 

 his habits, so that I am sure he did more for our neigh- 

 bor in one night than the pigeons, swallows, and wrens 

 did in a month. Not in singing, mercy no! Who ever 

 heard of a song coming from a hooked bill? It was in 

 real service about the farm, as watchman or policeman, 

 to rid the place of injurious animals. 



It was not an easy matter to photograph these barn 

 owls in the very peak of the old barn. The minute we 

 came near the nest box the old owl pitched headlong out 

 of the hole and landed in a willow tree opposite. We had 

 to climb a ladder and swing into the rafters to reach the 

 nest. In such a place we could hardly handle a camera. 

 There was not even a loft to work from, so we set up a 

 long ladder and nailed to it a couple of cross-pieces strong 



