THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



19 



tarings and croonings to each other gave the 

 observer the impression that they were laughing 

 over a practical joke. 



The boys of the town were, for a while, very 

 kind and brought them more food than was re 

 quired, but, as they grew older and more able 

 to take care of themselves, fell to teazing and 

 plaguing them with sticks. This ill-treatment 

 the great horned owl did not resent, but to the 

 barrtd, it soon grew monotonous, and he got it 

 back on the gamins in his own peculiar way; mak- 

 ing a dash at every boy that came in, raking the 

 top of his head, as he passed over it, with his 

 sharp claws, at the same time uttering his laugh- 

 ing notes of who, who-who, who-are-you? The 

 boys soon learned to keep out and to content 

 themselves by guying him from the outside. They 

 would anger him extremely by putting an old 

 black hat on the end of a stick and introduce it 

 a few inches through the partly opened door, at 

 the same time imitating his notes. This mim- 

 ickry would arouse him to a frenzy of excite- 

 ment and anger, and he would sometimes dash 

 frantically against the side of the building from 

 which the notes issued. 



On one occasion, a venturesome lad put his 

 eye to a knot hole to take a peep at the owls, 

 but he was quickly made to repent of his tem- 

 erity and his lusty screams brought me at once 

 from my office to his side. The barred owl had 

 Tiade a centre shot for the bulls-eye and the 

 bell rang at once. Dashing from the opposite 

 side of the building, he had thrust one foot 

 through the small opening, lacerating and tear- 

 ing the skin about the eye, but luckily not injur- 

 ing the organ itself. After this the boys were 

 seized with a panic and gave the " owl house " 

 a wide berth. Notwithstanding that they hated 

 the boys, and regarded strangers with much dis- 

 trust, they considered me their good friend and 

 always greeted my appearance with demonstra- 

 tions of pleasure: bovsdng, quacking, hooting and 

 screeching, all mixed up in a very comical man- 

 ner. Flying to my feet they would look about 

 earnestly for the expected feast, which was 

 usually given. 



The crowing of chickens at daylight would 

 set them to hooting, and I sometimes thought 

 the barred owl was trying to imitate the pecul- 

 iar drawling Cock-a-doodle-doo-0-00 of a cer- 



tain rooster on the premises. Cloudy, damp 

 days would also set them to hooting and to fly- 

 ing and jumping about with great activity. 



All kinds of animal food, except fat or tallow, 

 was greedily eaten. Rats, mice, ground squir- 

 rels, birds and chicken-heads were put through 

 a bone crushing process and then swallowed 

 whole. If not too hungry, birds would be de- 

 nuded of their feathers before being swallowed. 

 Fish was their favorite food, and, during the 

 summer months, constituted their main diet. A 

 quart or so of " Shiners " would dissapear down 

 their throats like magic. 



RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 



{Melanerpes erythrocephalus.) 

 BY JAMES HILL, EDINBURG, ILL. 



The red-headed woodpecker inhabits the 

 North American continent east of the Rocky 

 Mountains. The head and neck are deep crim- 

 son from which the bird derives its name. The 

 back, primaries and tail are black, and a broad 

 band of white extends across the middle of the 

 wing and across the rump. 



This woodpecker belongs to the Picidse or 

 woodpecker family and to the order Scansores 

 or Climbers, and is a true member of the order. 

 He will often excavate holes in live oak trees 

 for his nesting sites. Authorities say the usual 

 complement of eggs is four to six but I have 

 found sets of ten, frequently. 



This bird is seldom found upon the prairie 

 but as the forests dissapear he begins to make 

 his nest in the apple tree and near habitations. 

 They store away acorns, com, nuts etc. in small 

 holes excavated in fence rails, trees, and such 

 places. I have seen holes in a decaying tree to 

 the number of twenty-eight and each to the 

 depth of several inches. The bird is an adept 

 at excavating. 



The call of the red-head is very peculiar; he 

 makes that long rolling rattle peculiar to the 

 woodpeckers and familiar to us all. This call 

 is effected by a rapid spasmodic motion of the 

 head the beak rapidly striking the hard wood. 

 This bird is very tenacious of life. He is a 

 great destroyer of fruit, cherries in particular. 



What a world within a world the forest is ! 



— Torrey. 



