ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



ologist, than to become acquainted with the 

 voices of his favoiites not only in song, but in 

 all moods and passions. It is absurd to say: 



"the song of the yellow warbler consists of 



etc.," for there is no bird, no matter how limited 

 his musical ability, but has at least three well 

 defined songs. On the other hand the novice is 

 apt to rush into the opposite extreme; he tal< es 

 notes on a song one day, but hearing the same 

 song under different circumstances the next, 

 he immediately concludes he has discovered 

 another ditty and so inscribes it. 



Besides the songs proper are the various call- 

 notes. These change with the meaning the 

 bird intends to convey, and also, in some cases, 

 with the season. The aspiring devotee should 

 carry a note book on all occasions and on hear- 

 ing a new song should attempt with the best of 

 his ability to express the syllables by means of 

 letters. I practice a system of short-hand in 

 connection with the foregoing method which it 

 might be well to mention here. 



By means of small circles, or simply with dots, 

 represent the relative musical values of the notes 

 of the song. For instance, take the best known 

 of the songs of the Nashville warbler. This is 

 first written, "kchip kchip kchip kchip cheche 

 che che che." Then the "kchips" are repre- 

 sented by a row of four small circles, all on the 

 same horizontal plane, and the "ches"by a 

 series of five dots on a slightly higher plane. 

 Thus I know that the first four notes are all of 

 the same pitch, rather slow, and are followed 

 by five smaller notes of a slightly higher pitch. 



Of course, this process becomes more com- 

 plicated in the case of such songs as those of 

 the ruby-crowned kinglet" or the vireos, but with 

 a little patience they can be managed in a much 

 more satisfactory manner than by any other 

 method you may be able to devise. Besides 

 becoming thoroughly conversant with the songs, 

 notes should be taken on the dates of the song 

 season. Some birds sing better before or after 

 a storm; some at morning and night only. Find 

 out what time in the morning they rise, and what 

 is the hour for vesper service. In short, learn 

 all you possibly can. 



THE SCREECH OWL. 



(}feffn,scops a.no.) 

 BY E. B. PECK, CLIFTON SPEINGS, N. Y. 



Nature cannot be surprised in undress. Beau- 

 ty breaks in everywhere. — Emerson. 



1 think this is a very interesting if not the 

 most interesting member of the owl family. It 

 may be found here both winter and summer and 

 I know of its breeding here. 



One day last spring, a boy came to me almost 

 out of breath and asked me to come and see 

 his young owls. I could hardly believe him as 

 a case of this owl's breeding here had never 

 came under my observation. I thought if any 

 one was likely to find an owl's nest I would. 

 However, I agreed to go and see them. 



The next day I went. I should think that 

 the owls were about a week old. A person 

 could tell which was hatched first by the differ- 

 ence in size; the first had its eyes open and had 

 began to feather out, while the youngest had 

 not gotten its eyes open yet and was just a little 

 white ball of down. After looking at them a 

 while and questioning the boy I made up my 

 mind that they were young " Screechers." He 

 fed them with angle-worms of which they ate 

 great quantities. 



This is next to the smallest owl to be found 

 in this locality. In color the back is brownish- 

 gray streaked with darker, the breast being 

 light gray streaked with black and 'urown. The 

 tail is brown each feather having a black centre. 

 There is also another distinct plumage which is 

 bright rufus. 



A specimen before me now, exhibits the fol- 

 lowing measurements. Length eight inches; 

 wing seven inches; tail three and one half iuches. 

 The two to six eggs are pure white, almost oval, 

 and measure 1.42 x 1. 19 of an inch. 



After all where is the flower lore? for the 

 first book, not the last, should contain the poetry 

 of flowers. The natural system may tell us of 

 the value of a plant in medicine or the arts, or 

 for food, but neither it nor the Linn^an, to any 

 great extent tells us its chief value and signifi- 

 cance to man. There will be pages about some 

 fair flower's qualities for food or medicine, but 

 perhaps not a sentence about its significance to 

 the eye ( as if the cowslip were better for 

 greens than for yellows) about what all children 

 and flower-lovers gather flowers for. — Thokeau. 



