LITTLE SCREECH OWL. 487 



in search of prey. It now and then, while on wing, produces a clicking 

 sound with its mandibles, but more frequently when perched near its 

 mate or young. This I have thought is done by the bird to manifest 

 its courage, and let the hearer know that it is not to be meddled with, 

 although few birds of prey are more gentle when seized, as it will suffer a 

 person to touch its feathers and caress it, without attempting to bite or 

 strike with its talons, unless at rare intervals. I carried one of the young 

 birds represented in the Plate, in my coat pocket, from Philadelphia to 

 New York, travelling alternately by water and by land. It remained 

 generally quiet, fed from the hand, and never attempted to escape. It 

 was given me by my good friend Dr Richard Haelan, of Philadelphia, 

 and was lost at sea, in the course of my last voyage to England. 



The notes of this Owl are uttered in a tremulous, doleful manner, 

 and somewhat resemble the chattering of the teeth of a person under the 

 influence of extreme cold, although much louder. They are heard at a 

 distance of several hundred yards, and by some people are thought to be 

 of ominous import. 



The little fellow is generally found about farm-houses, orchards, and 

 gardens. It alights on the roof, the fence or the garden gate, and ut- 

 ters its mournful ditty at intervals for hours at a time, as if it were in a 

 state of great suffering, although this is far from being the case, the song 

 of all birds being an indication of content and happiness. In a state of 

 confinement, it continues to utter its notes with as much satisfaction as if 

 at liberty. They are chiefly heard during the latter part of winter, that 

 being the season of love, when the male bird is particularly attentive to 

 the fair one which excites his tender emotions, and around which he flies 

 and struts much in the manner of the Common Pigeon, adding numerous 

 nods and bows, the sight of which is very amusing. 



The nest is placed in the bottom of the hollow trunk of a tree, often not 

 at a greater height than six or seven feet from the ground, at other times 

 so high as from thirty to forty feet. It is composed of a few grasses and 

 feathers. The eggs are four or five, of a nearly globular form, and pure 

 white colour. If not disturbed, this species lays only one set of eggs in the 

 season. The young remain in the nest until they are able to fly. At first 

 they are covered with a downy substance of a dull yellowish-white. By 

 the middle of August, they are fully feathered, and are then generally of 

 the colour exhibited in the plate, although considerable differences exist 

 between individuals, as I have seen some of a deep chocolate coloiu-, and 



