264 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



Screech Owl. Otus asio asio (Linn.) 



This Owl is easily distinguished from all others by its small size 

 and its ear tufts. No other small Owl has ear tufts. The color 

 of the plumage is gray or reddish brown, the difference being indi- 

 vidual, and not due to age, sex or season. 



How common this Owl is in the Park it is difficult to say. Owls 

 are not easily found, and the Screech Owl is more silent in sum- 

 mer than in spring or fall. None was heard, and only one seen, — 

 a young bird that flew into a farmhouse on a tributary of Quaker 

 Run the night of July 11. It was captured and kept until I saw it 

 the next day, and then released. 



The call of the Screech Owl is not a screech but a long, wavering 

 cry, slowly grading downward in pitch toward the end. It is most 

 commonly heard at night. 



The Screech Owl nests in a hole in a tree, an old Flicker hole in 

 an apple or shade tree being a favorite place. It lives most com- 

 monly in orchards or shade trees, but is sometimes found in the 

 forest where it shows a preference for evergreen trees, among the 

 branches of which it hides and sleeps in the daytime. 



Red-headed Woodpecker. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.) 



Adults of this bird, which is about the size of the Robin, are 

 easily known by the red head, the entire head, neck and throat 

 being bright red. The broad black and white patches of the 

 wings and back are also distinctive. Young birds have these 

 patches also, but no red head. The head is spotted with brown, 

 and the rest of the plumage is more or less brownish, and spotted 

 or barred. 



This bird is rare in the Park. One adult was seen along Quaker 

 Run, July 11, and several adults and young were seen in the Tun- 

 ungwant Valley, July 25 and 27. It prefers orchards, shade trees 

 or open forest, but does not occur in dense forests. It may some- 

 times be seen on fence posts or telephone poles far from any tree. 



The note of this woodpecker is a loud and guttural " ker-r- 

 ruck," suggesting the rattle of the tree toad. It also produces the 

 drumming noise of other woodpeckers. Unlike other woodpeckers, 

 its flight is not always undulatory. 



The nest is a hole in a dead limb or telephone pole, similar to 

 those of other woodpeckers. The presence of young birds observed 

 in the Park indicates that they nest there. 



Crested Flycatcher. Myiarchus crinitws (Linn.) 



This .bird is a little smaller than the Robin. Its throat is gray, 

 and its upper parts olive-brown, shading to a bright reddish brown 

 in the wings and tail, which latter is conspicuous in flight. The 

 breast and under parts are pale yellow, and the wings are marked 

 with white bars and edges to the feathers. 



The Crested Flycatcher is decidedly rare in the Park. I met with 

 but two, one on Quaker Run, July /, and one on Wolf Run, July 

 18. The bird prefers somewhat open country such as that afforded 



