228 BIRD PARADISE 



his special business and attended to it with assid- 

 uous care, never once even intimating that he 

 was anywhere else but at home. His soft note 

 was full of a domestic flavor that was most pleas- 

 ing. He stayed nearly all the forenoon, but the 

 call did not seem very long, as he amused him- 

 self most of the time. I took care to inform him 

 as best I could that he was always welcome. 



Going quite early to the barn on a recent 

 morning, I was saluted by the call of the little 

 screech-owl. The fellow had dropped into one 

 of the evergreens on the front lawn and was evi- 

 dently desirous of surprising the parson with his 

 curious medley of sounds. I went out to the 

 tree and watched some little time, but failed to 

 get sight of the fellow. He kept up his call 

 until the sun looked over the eastern hill, and 

 the night was gone. Then I conclude he made 

 his way to the covers of the swamp just east of 

 the village. This owl is the smallest of the sev- 

 eral species known in our hill country, in fact, 

 I think at the present he is our only regular owl 

 resident. I sometimes hear his call in the night 

 and I hardly know of any other sound made by 

 birds that seems quite so uncanny. These little 



