AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



199 



Photo from life by C. A. Smith. 

 MEALTIME. (Five weelts old.) 



the air at your back. Quickly you turn but there is nothing in 

 sight that could have produced the strange sound. It seems to have 

 come from empty air. Again the sound is repeated. It is as clear and 

 distinct as the snap of a watch case. Alert now, you wheel to the 

 sound so quickly that you catch a glimpse of a bird retreating 

 rapidly in sidelong — noiseless flight among the overhanging branches. 

 You have seen, for the first time, the Screech Owl on its "native heath." 

 Now take your stand so that the old hollow tree to which it flew shall 

 come between you and the glow still lingering in the western sky. 

 Soon the bird comes again, swinging behind you in a half circle, snap- 

 ping its beak close to your head and retreating as before. Now its 

 mate appears and together, or alternately, they dash back and forth, 

 menacingly snapping their beaks and apparently trying to drive you 

 away from the spot. They are unable to intimidate you thus, and 

 retiring at last to the branches, they set up a quavering whining cry. 

 This note has in it the quality of a puppy's whine and somewhat re- 

 sembles the cry of a young raccoon. 



