OWLS. 57 



Like other owls in this respect it is a great 

 destroyer of mice, in search of which it comes 

 into barns. I'he Great Grey Owl is a winter 

 bird of the lonely forest of larger size even than 

 the Great Horned Owl. The Ijarred Owl is a 

 smaller bird much resembling the last. 



The Hawk Owl (Siirnia funerea) is a small- 

 sized, trimly- formed bird much resembling a hawk 

 both in its general ai)i)earance and diurnal habits. 



The smallest of the family is the Acadian, or 

 Saw - whet Owl, a grey and brown - plumed little 

 fellow eight inches in length. Its most ))eculiar 

 characteristic is its call note of kook^ /wok, 

 sounded continuouslv durinu, the still hours of 

 calm, clear moonlit nights, in March and A[jril. 

 The constant and regular repetition of this single 

 note, echoing through the rigid forest, sounds 

 like, the tolling of a bell, ringing out its steady 

 peal on the starlit brilliancy of the crystal scene. 

 This curious little bird nests in the hollow of a 

 tree, laying five or six white eggs. Like most 

 other Owls, it nests in Aj^ril, having its young 

 well advanced when the summer's struggle begins. 



