288 Bird -Lore 



brood nearby. And yet the victim was probably a wood mouse, or some such 

 small vermin devoted to destruction by altruistic man! 



Where had Asio gone when the mob left her? I twisted and turned and 

 bent over trying to spy her among the leafy branches, only to discover her 

 bent double staring down at me. But still she did not remonstrate with me. 

 The following day, while on the shore, I heard the muffled whoof, who of in the 

 woods. But this time, before I could slip in, Big Wings slipped out, and I 

 found only the fuzzy young staring down at the cows whose bell was jangling 

 under the trees. 



At the foot of Asio's oak, the next afternoon, I found a large dead mouse 

 near a fallen branch that apparently served as dining-chair, and on whose 

 bark I had previously discovered a delicate tidbit that suggested liver of mouse. 

 On the ground I was glad to find tw r o of the large 'pellets, 1 ejected by the 

 mousers — oblong pellets that look like cocoons, and are made in the Owls' 

 crops, where the soft nutritious flesh is worked off the bones and sent on down 

 the alimentary canal, while the bones and fur are worked into balls with the 

 fur on the outside, to be thrown out — ejected — as useless waste; useless to the 

 bird, but most useful to the naturalist who would study the Owl's bill of 

 fare. The bills of fare of Asio wilsonianus, as hinted at by this and eight 

 other pellets picked up before the young deserted the nest, added testimony 

 to published statistics proving the Owls inveterate mousers, for the pellets 

 contained bones of only one bird but those of nine mice and a ground 

 squirrel. At this rate, five hungry Owlets would make great inroads upon 

 the mouse population. 



One of the Asio brood, on June 21, a week after the discovery of the nest, 

 was found sitting on a branch two or three trees away from the nest oak. Alas! 

 it was the beginning of the end. The original family was proving so interesting 

 that it gave me a pang. The Owlet had flown down from the nest to within 

 ten feet of the ground, and sat his branch with the non-committal cracker- 

 jar-on-the-shelf look. His white breast was now distinctly vermiculated, 

 producing a grayish effect. One erect wisp of ear gave a comically lopsided, 

 dishevelled air to an otherwise serious and reputable appearance. Were 

 pugnacious brothers responsible for the absence of the second wisp? 



The little stranger to the world, though seeming so alone in the green- 

 wood, was being carefully guarded from a neighboring tree-top on this his 

 first venture. A low, reassuring woof, woof, woof, eloquent of maternal care 

 and tenderness, was repeated a number of times; but to this was added a 

 strongly accented wow'-wa, and an emphatic, if not peremptory, woof-woof- 

 weck. Whatever the interpretation of these calls, little 'One-ear' finally 

 turned on his branch, grasping it firmly with a pretty white-furred foot, so 

 facing his parent; which was certainly better for purposes of quick under- 

 standing and prompt obedience. 



One of Asio's favorite day roosts was the big oak a few rods from the nest, 



