1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



61 



surrounded by a crowd of interested spectators, 

 it was the same fearless bird, ready for a grapple 

 with anything that ventured to tease it, but other- 

 wise appeared at ease. The food of this bird is 

 quite various, consisting chiefly, doubtless, of the 

 smaller quadrujieds and large birds, and it is 

 known to be quite destructive to ])artridges in win- 

 ter. An esteemed ornithological friend informs me 

 that he once shot one so perfumed with the odor 

 of a Sbnik, that he was obliged to leave it where 

 it fell, it doubtless having killed one of these an- 

 imals the preceding night. I once knew one to 

 attack, in midday, the sun shining clearly at the 

 time, a brood of young Red-tailed Hawks, that I 

 had brought down from their nest and left an 

 hour, having eaten one entirely, and killed, 

 plucked clean, and eaten off the head of the sec- 

 ond, when I started him from his repast on my 

 return ; which shows that the sight of this Owl is 

 less defective in the light of the sun than that of 

 many others. The dismal hootings of this spe- 

 cies are well known, his deep bass hoo-hoo, hoo-no 

 being sometimes heard in the daytime on the ap- 

 proach of a storm. Its proper time of activity, 

 however, is in the night, when it seeks its prey by 

 silently gliding along near the earth, but with 

 great velocity, and pounces upon its prey beneath 

 with extreme suddenness. At other times it sails 

 in broad circles like the Eagle, with the greatest 

 degree of rapidity, ease and gracefulness. 



The Great-Horned Owl is also known as the 

 Virginian Eagle Old, but its more common ap- 

 pellation is that of Cat Owl. The length of the 

 female is full two feet, breadth of wing four feet 

 six inches ; the male is somewhat less, but other- 

 wise than in size, the sexes differ but little in ex- 

 ternal characters. Upper parts finely pencilled 

 with dusky, on a tawny and whitish ground ; low- 

 er parts, tawny and dusky, elegantly barred trans- 

 versely with dusky bars, and touches of white ; 

 horns, three inches long, consisting of twelve or 

 fourteen broad feathers, black edged with bright 

 tawny. 



The Arctic Horned Owl {Buho Arctica, Rich, 

 and Swain..) is a northern species, first accurate- 

 ly described by Richardson and Swainson in their 

 Northern Zoology, but as yet little seems to be 

 known concerning it. It is believed to have been 

 seen as far south as Massachusetts, a large white 

 owl with horns having been observed here in the 

 depth of winter. It is described as resembling 

 the Great Horned Owl in size, but is said to be 

 much handsomer, and to specifically differ from 

 this bird otherwise than in color, though some 

 ornithologists have hinted it may prove merely 

 a semi-albino variety of Biibo Virginiana. Up- 

 per parts finely barred with umber brown and 

 white; lower plumage white with bars of dusky. 



The Mottled Owl, or the Little Screech 

 Owl, {Scopsasio, Bonap.,) is a well known spe- 

 cies in New England, is found over most parts of 

 the United States, and extends its migrations 

 considerably to the northward. Its notes are ex- 

 ceedingly melancholy, being a peculiar quavering 

 kind of wailing, often heard during the evenings 

 and moonlight nights of the autumn months, as 

 well as occasionally at other seasons. It is a 

 harmless and interesting species, feeding chiefly 

 upon mice and small birds, and in winter some- 

 times enters barns in search of its prey, or to seek 

 refuge from the weather. Its favorite places 



of repose are hollow trees, in which it breeds, and 

 dark evergreens. In the daytime it is considera- 

 bly blinded by the light of the sun, and when dis- 

 covered by small birds, particularly the Blue Jay, 

 is sorely teased, and furnishes rare sport for the 

 marauding Jay, who may frequently be seen peep- 

 ing carefully into the hollow trees of the orchard 

 in search of them, at the same time screaming with 

 great vehemence. In its proper season of activi- 

 ty it is a spirited little Owl, and in confinement 

 is found quite amusing, often putting on grotesque 

 airs and snapping its bill when approached, and 

 in the evening exhibits considerable sprightliness, 

 moving about the room with the stillness of 

 thought. 



The length of the Mottled Owl is about ten 

 inches ; alar extent, twenty-two inches ; upper 

 plumage, dark brown, streaked with black, pale 

 brown and ash ; lower plumage white, and finely 

 marked with irregular streaks of black and touch- 

 es of brown ; egrets, or horns, pi'ominent, of ten 

 feathers. The young birds are quite different in 

 color from the adult, being of a tawny red above, 

 and bright reddish brown below, marked with 

 touches of black and white, and are commonly 

 known as the Bed Owl. Wilson describes the 

 Red and Mottled Owl as two distinct species, and 

 now that they are known to be one, there is a di- 

 versity of opinion as to which are the adult birds. 



J. A. A, 



For the Neic England Farmer. 

 TUBEROUS ROOTS. 



ox THE MOST IMPORTANT TUBEROUS ROOTS USED BT 

 DIFFERENT PEOPLE FOR FOOD. 



BY WILSON FLAGG. 

 [continued.] 



The Yam (Dioscorea alata) has lately been in- 

 troduced into this country, and cultivated with 

 considerable success. It is a very nutritious root, 

 and often attains an enormous size. The kind 

 which we cultivate is the Chinese yam, (D. suti- 

 va), which does not require so hot a climate as the 

 other species. In its native countries, it is made 

 into sago, though the true sago is the product of 

 a species of Palm. This nutritious root is grown 

 in Java, Manila, Sumatra, China, and in all 

 parts of the torrid zone. In a hot and damp cli- 

 mate, it often weighs as much as 30 or 40 pounds. 

 Indeed, in Cochin China, they have been known 

 to attain the extraordinary size of 9^ feet in cir- 

 cumference, and to weigh over 400 pounds. This 

 large kind, however, has a fibrous root, and is 

 used chiefly for the manufacture of starch and sa- 

 go. The yam is not valued so highly by the in- 

 habitants of its native regions, as 



The Arum or Arox, which belongs to a differ- 

 ent botanical family, and is considered in the 

 countries in which it is grown as superior in fla- 

 vor and delicacy to any other known root. The 

 roots of several species of Arum are cultivated 

 with extraordinary care in the hottest parts of the 

 torrid zone, and they are even a still more gener- 

 al article of food than potatoes or bread with us. 

 The Arum is grown in the most distant countries 

 of both continents ; Europe does not possess a 

 climate sufficiently warm to produce these escu- 

 lent roots, which require excessive heat combined 

 with moisture. 



All the roots of the Arum have an acid, some- 



