368 USEFUL BIRDS. 
The American Long-eared Owl (Asio wilsonianus) is a 
bird of similar size and shape, but with a trifle larger head, 
and very long ear tufts rising from near the middle of it. 
It is dark brown above and light below. This is a long- 
winged bird of the woods, a night hunter, hiding in thick 
foliage of coniferous trees by day. It is a great killer of 
wood mice and nocturnal insects, and kills a few birds. 
The Screech Owl (Megascops asio), the smallest of the 
eared Owls, is hardly as large as a Quail. It has two color 
phases that are not attributable to age or sex, some indi- 
viduals being reddish in color, while others are gray. Its 
wailing cries are frequently heard about orchards in towns 
and villages, as well as in the woods, and it commonly nests 
in hollow orchard trees. This is one of the most useful of 
all Owls. It is very destructive to moths, caterpillars, and 
beetles, as well as wood mice and field mice. In winter it 
enters barns and sheds, where it kills mice, and sometimes 
when driven by hunger it kills and eats Doves. During 
the breeding season it kills some small birds, particularly 
if mice are not plentiful enough to furnish an abundance of 
food for its young. 
The Saw-whet or Acadian Owl (Myctala acadica) is a 
little brown Owl, with no eartufts. It is'the smallest of all 
the native species of Massachusetts. It is rather uncom- 
mon, but very useful, as it feeds mainly on mice and insects 
and rather rarely on birds. 
The Barn Owl, perhaps the most useful of the family, is 
rare here. 
On the whole, while Owls must be ranked among the ene- 
mies of small birds, they usually do so much more good than 
they do harm that only under exceptional conditions can they 
be regarded as injurious, although the Horned Owl is. com- 
monly considered pernicious because of its destruction of 
game. 
Crows and Jays. 
The Crows, Jays, and Magpies have acquired a world-wide 
reputation as nest robbers. The common Crow and the Blue 
Jay manage to live up to their reputation. My report on 
the Crow and some additional notes on the destructiveness 
