196 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



SCREECH OWLS. 



By Edward Howe Forbush. 



The bird of night! The bird of mystery! The bird of Fate! From 

 ancient times such dismal appellations have been bestowed upon the 

 owl. Some savage peoples still look upon the bird as a personification 

 of the evil spirit and dread to encounter it. It must be admitted 

 that the grotesque appearance of the owl, its staring eyes, its hollow 

 cries, and its. power of flying rapidly and noiselessly from place to 

 place unseen in the darkness, all tend to make it the object of super- 

 stitious dread and the subject of fearful traditions; but modern scien- 

 tific investigation has shown it to be not only harmless but one of the 

 Tuost useful of our feathered friends. 



Still there is very little known of the night habits of the owls. The 

 mystery of darkness yet enshrouds them and those who desire an in- 

 sight into the owl life must themselves become practiced night prowlers. 

 He who wishes to watch the owls must be in the orchard, wood or 

 meadow in the sunset's afterglow, for one can see little when black 

 night has fallen, though something may be done under the full moon, 

 or at early dawn. You may first locate the owl haunt or nesting place, 

 by the droppings, or little balls or wads of fur, bones and other 

 indigestible material which the owls cast up and carelessly leave upon 

 the ground near their roosting places. Or by searching you may find 

 the nest in daylight. At mating time you may locate the owls by their 

 •cries and he who then prowls about after sunset using his senses to 

 the utmost will soon find what he seeks. You may find owls in the 

 daytime by investigating the cause of sundry noisy gatherings of crows 

 or jays, but for the best chance to make or renew owl acquaintance, 

 give me the still night vigil. When camped on shore or marsh in a 

 little brown shelter tent just large enough to furnish concealment, I 

 have enjoyed the best of opportunities for watching owls. 



Camping in a marsh suggests rheumatism or malaria, but I know 

 from experience that one may camp on a mud bank in the center of a 

 great swamp without experiencing any serious inconvenience. In a 

 marsh among the Thousand Islands, Florida, Short-eared Owls could 

 be seen in the moonlight quartering the ground in short sweeps hunt- 

 ing for mice or insects. While camped on an island in the Gulf of 

 Georgia I was often visited by a small Screech Owl which at times 

 alighted on the tent. It is not necessary, however, to go far from 

 home to see the Screech Owl alive in its chosen retreat. Let us go 

 then to a spot, not far away, where we may find an owl's nest. On the 

 south side of a sunny hill pasture a spring wells up from the cool earth 



