112 THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 



of an inch in length ; the upper parts are a dark brown, 

 the head being finely streaked and the back spotted with 

 white; the under parts are white with reddish brown 

 streaks and mottlings; tail, brown, having three or four 

 narrow white bars; eyes, yellow; legs and feet, feather- 

 ed, white. This Owl is very easily captured, it is also 

 very easily tamed. The head is frequently used for mil- 

 linery purposes and a combination of all these facts has 

 made the bird scarce. 



The eggs of this bird are frequently found in a hole in 

 a tree in an abandoned Squirrel's or Woodpecker's nest ; 

 they are from three to five in number, of a pure white, 

 one and one-fifth by one inch in size. 



The bird breeds in the northern United States and 

 British America and in the winter spends its time further 

 south as far as the Middle States. In New Jersey it is 

 a rare winter visitor. 



The cry of the bird resembles the filing of a saw, from 

 which fact it has derived its name. 



Government reports of the examination of 22 stomachs 

 showed that 17 contained mice, 1 a bird, 1 an insect and 

 3 were empty. 



Owl, Screech. — Length, eight and a half inches; ex- 

 tent, twenty-one inches. There are two phases of this 

 bird found in New Jersey, the red and gray, but the 

 former predominates. The bird is easily know^n by its 

 small size and ear tufts; the coloring is not dependent 

 either upon sex, age or season, both colors frequently oc- 

 curring in the same brood. The general color of the plu- 

 mage of the red phase is a bright tawny red above ; the 

 shafts of the feathers are black; exterior edges of the 

 feathers of the shoulders, white; whole wing quills, 

 spotted with dusky on their exterior webs; tail, rounded, 

 transversely barred vnth dusky and pale brown; chin, 

 breast and sides, white, streaked with black and more or 

 less mottled with rusty; middle of belly, white; legs, 



