BIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
195 
of low meadows, and even premises adjoining barns, barracks, etc., where 
they make terrible onslaughts upon the small quadrupeds which infest 
such j)laces. Sailing above the tall grasses, the smallest creature is readily 
descried, and almost in the twinkling of an eye is captured and borne 
away in the vice-like bill, or firm grasj) of the more powerful claws. 
When pressed for food they often conceal themselves behind tufts of 
grasses, and await the appearance of their quarry, or even visit our smaller 
birds upon their perches. 
The nightly rampage of the Mottled Owl is always heralded by a 
peculiar plaintive cry which strongly resembles the whinings of young 
puppies. It alternates from high to low, and is occasionally varied by 
deep guttural trills. From dusk until the clock has ushered in the wee 
hours of the morning the ear of night is startled by these lugubrious 
utterances. By some they are supposed to be intended as a summons from 
the female to her partner, and vice versa. As they are chiefly heard wdiile 
in pursuit of prey, it is more than probable that they are designed to 
startle small birds from their coverts, and thus insure their easy capture. 
The representation of the notes may be quite accurately expressed by 
wha-a-a-a-a. 
Life without variety soon becomes monotonous, and in the case of the 
human animal often leads to un]fleasant results. With birds the dreai’y 
autumnal and wintry days, which are S])ent in sleep and in contriving 
means for obtaining a subsistence, are no longer a source of enjoyable 
2)leasure when sjiring returns, and we discover when the ^^roper time 
arrives that everywhere there exists a feeling to throw off the shackles of 
such an, existence, and to take on newer relationships. This varies with 
the character of the weather. During favorable seasons the time is earlier, 
but when the advancing stejDS of milder days are retarded hy frosts and 
snows, there is sometimes a delay of a fortnight. Not so with the Mottled 
Owls. The jjeriod of mating with them usually begins quite early, on or 
about the flfteenth of March in extreme southern latitudes, but as late as 
the tenth of Aj^ril in cooler northern sections. In the Middle Atlantic 
