BIRDS OF PREY 205 



principally of hares, mice, and others of the smaller mam- 

 mals, as well as small birds." Dr. W. D. Dall has taken 

 "no less than thirteen skulls and other remains of red-poll 

 linnets from the crop of a single bird." Specimens in cap- 

 tivity are reported to have relished a diet of fish. 



Its nest is described as a coarse structure built in the 

 taller trees and composed of twigs and lined with moss 

 and feathers. The note of this great bird is said to be "a 

 tremulous, vibrating sound, somewhat resembling that of 

 the screech owl." The great gray owl is also known as 

 the Great Sooty Owl and the Spectral Owl. Its generic 

 title, Scotiaptex, is from two Greek words, one meaning 

 darkness and the other to frighten. 



THE SAW-WHET OWL* 



A curious name for a bird, we are inclined to say when 

 we meet with it for the first time, but when we hear its 

 shrill, rasping call note, uttered perhaps at midnight, we 

 admit the appropriateness of *' saw-whet." It resembles the 

 sound made when a large-toothed saw is being filed. 



Mr. Goss says that the natural home of this sprightly 

 little owl is within the wild woodlands, though it is occa- 

 sionally found about farm houses and even cities. It is 

 very shy and retiring in its habits, however, rarely leaving 

 its secluded retreats until late at eve, for which reason it 

 is doubtless much more common throughout its range than 

 is generally supposed. It is not migratory, but is more or 

 less of an irregular wanderer in search of food during the 

 autumn and winter. It may be quite common in a locality 



