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of the Chicago Academy of Science (i. p. 267) by Messrs. Dall and Bannister, two of the corps of enterprising 

 young naturalists who, under the leadership of the lamented Kennicott, and in his enthusiastic spirit, explored 

 our newly acquired north- west territory with such signal success. 



" ' This is the commonest species of Owl about Anlato/ writes Mr. Dall. ' Many of both sexes were obtained. 

 April 16th, 1867, took from the ovary of a female an egg ready for laying. I invariably found many tape- 

 worms in the intestines of the bird ; afterwards I discovered in the mouse, which is the usual food of these 

 Owls, the hydatid from which these parasites were developed. May 5th, 1868, obtained six eggs of this species. 

 They were laid in the top of an old birch stump, 15 feet high. The rotten wood was somewhat hollowed out; 

 and the eggs lay directly on it. The male attacked me while climbing the stump, and knocked off my cap. 



He had been sitting on the nest. I did not see the female I seldom saw any thing but mice in 



the crop of this bird, which, toward dusk, is veiy fond of flying from tip to tip of the tall spruce-pineries, and 

 apparently swinging or balancing itself, and calling to its mate at intervals while chasing or being chased 

 by him.' 



" Renewing the assurances of my great interest in your work, I beg leave to subscribe myself 



" Yours very truly, 



"Elliott Coites." 



"Baltimore, Md., U.S., October 10th, 1871." 



The above account of Dr. Coues's is so complete, that we can ourselves add nothing to it, 

 except as regards the Bermudas, where Captain Drummond is stated in the ' Contributions to 

 Ornithology ' for 1850 (p. 37) to have seen a bird of this species on the wing within a few yards 

 of him. 



The present species is a true day Owl, and may often be seen hawking after prey in the 

 strongest sunshine, or seated quietly blinking on the top of an old scathed tree, apparently 

 undisturbed by the glare of the sun. In its general appearance, and especially in its flight, it 

 bears considerable affinity to the Sparrow-Hawk ; and thus the current idea amongst some of the 

 northern peasants that it is a cross between an Owl and a Hawk does not, after all, appear so 

 absurd. Dresser had ample opportunities of observing it in New Brunswick, where he found it 

 by no means uncommon. In that country it affects the open plains, or so-called blueberry 

 barrens, where the open country is covered with cranberry- and blueberry-bushes; and an 

 occasional scathed tree still remains lifting its bare branches towards the heavens. It will sit on 

 one of these trees for hours, in an upright Hawk-like position, occasionally hunting over the 

 ground like a Kestrel in search of the small fieldmice which form its chief food. It shows but 

 little fear, and may easily be approached within gunshot ; sometimes, indeed, when fired at and 

 missed, it will take a short flight and return to its former perch. On one occasion Dresser fired 

 at one with a rifle and cut the branch in two close under the bird, which returned almost 

 immediately to another branch on the same old scathed tree, and was a second time missed, the 

 distance being great, and finally fell to the third shot. The note is a shrill cry, not much unlike 

 the call of our common Kestrel, and is generally uttered on the wing. Its food appears to 

 consist almost exclusively of small fieldmice ; and out of numbers whose stomachs Dresser 

 examined, all contained remains of these, sometimes, though very seldom, with remains of 

 small passerine birds. Naumann states that the European bird also feeds on large coleoptera 

 and grasshoppers. They appear to hunt after food chiefly early in the forenoon and in the 

 evening, and during the day rest on some elevated perch, occasionally taking flights about 



