AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



Owls though useful are unprincipled and while they feed almost 

 wholly on creatures that are inimical to the farmer, they do not hesitate 

 to kill other birds when they can get their claws upon them. I have 

 known a Screech Owl to enter the nest of a Flicker, kill the occupant 

 and after taking full posession of the domicile make its first meal on 

 the former owner. I once found all the prominent features of a Long- 

 eared Owl immersed in the gastronomic interior of a Barred Owl. I 

 once confined several owls in the same room. One night the larger 

 part of a Screech Owl disappeared down the gullet of its companion, 

 and it was not long before the largest bird, a Barred Owl, represented 

 in itself the entire happy family, having disposed of the others as its 

 superior taste dictated. 



The generally accepted belief that owls cannot see in the daytime is 

 an error. They are enabled, by contracting the pupils, of the eyes to 

 see remarkably well by daylight, although when suddenly exposed to a 

 blinding sunglare, by being drawn forth from a dark hiding place, most 

 owls will appear blinded or dazed. The Hawk Owl and Snowy Owl 

 hunt by day. No doubt both of these birds hunt also at night as they 

 are arctic or subarctic fowls. The Great Horned Owl and Barred Owl 

 frequently move about in the daytime when they are often difficult tO' 

 approach. 



Some twenty years ago, when the Worcester Natural History Society 

 had a museum on Foster Street, Prof. F. G. Sanborn kept in the mu- 

 seum a live Screech Owl. Little "Scops" as it was called was at first 

 very drowsy in the daytime, but, as its day dreams were frequently 

 interrupted by visitors, it soon learned to sleep at night and was always 

 wide awake during the hours when the museum was kept open to the 

 public. In the fall, when the hawks were migrating, this little owl was 

 allowed to stand in a window whence it might watch all that was going 

 on in the street. My attention was soon called to the curious antics of 

 the bird which stood much in the same position of the owl pictured 

 on page 200 watching, not the street below, but the sky above. It 

 stood there in an attitude of apprehension, its head slowly gyrating 

 or rolling about and its eyes fixed on the blue and cloudless sky. No 

 one present could make out the object of its fear until one at last des- 

 cried a large hawk (probably a red tail) swinging in great circles 

 at such an immense height as to be invisible to most of those present. 

 After that, it was noticed that whenever the owl assumed that attitude 

 and expression a hawk was passing overhead. This was proof pos- 

 itive that the owl could see by daylight as well as the best of us. 



At seven weeks old our owl shows that he is rapidly approaching 

 maturity. The wing quills have grown and lengthened immensely and 



