222 



ORDERS OF BIRDS— BIRDS OF PREY 



owl; but of course the black markings are not 

 the same. 



This Owl exhibits a peculiarity in color which 

 must be specially noted. It has two distinct 

 and widely different colors, red and gray. In 

 the same locality will be found owls that are of 

 a cold, black-and-white gray color, and others 

 that are pale, rusty red, with white mottlings 

 on the abdomen. For this very odd develop- 

 ment, we are quite unable to account; and such 



Sanborn, Photo., N. Y. Zoological Park. 



YOUNG SCREECH-OWLS. 



lawless color-variations are called "phases," pos- 

 sibly because they phase the naturalists who try 

 to study out their whys and wherefores. 



In its food habits, the Screech-Owl prefers, 

 if it can procure them, mice, grasshoppers, lo- 

 custs, cut worms, beetles, caterpillars, crickets, 

 spiders, lizards, frogs and crawfish. If these 

 are lacking, it attacks the English sparrow and 

 almost any other small bird that comes handy, 

 usually other sparrows. To show that when 

 very hungry all birds look alike to him, he oc- 

 casionally kills and eats a bird of his own 

 species! Dr. A. K. Fisher's ever useful and 

 scholarly report on the "Hawks and Owls 

 of the United States" sets forth in full detail 

 tne results of the examination of 255 stomachs 



of Screech-Owls, of which the following is a 

 summary of contents: 100, insects; 91, mice; 

 12, English sparrows; 26, other birds; 11, miscel- 

 laneous mammals; 9, crawfish; 7, miscellaneous 

 food; 5, spiders; 5, frogs; 2, lizards; 2, scorpions; 

 2, earth-worms; 1, poultry; 1, fish, and 43 were 

 empty. The following is a full list of the birds 

 found: 12 English sparrows, 9 other sparrows, 

 3 juncos, 2 Screech-Owls, 1 shore-lark, 1 water 

 thrush and 15 unrecognized. 



Leaving out the two Screech-Owls, of the birds 

 that were identified, the English sparrows formed 

 practically one-half. On this basis we will 

 allow that of the unrecognized birds, seven were 

 song-birds. Add these to the fifteen recog- 

 nized-song birds and we have a total of twenty- 

 one song-birds out of two hundred and fifty-five 

 stomachs examined. 



The question is, what shall be the fate of the 

 Screech-Owl, — encouragement, toleration, or 

 limitation? To me it seems that the number of 

 Screech-Owls should be limited, for the benefit of 

 the song-birds; but I do not believe in their ex- 

 termination. 



The Great Horned Owl 1 is, by necessity, an 

 aerial pirate and highway robber — the tiger 

 of the air. Its temper is fierce and intractable, 

 and if you attempt to make friends with one 

 in captivity, it will hiss like a snake, snap its 

 beak like an angry peccary, and dare you to 

 come on. Of all the birds I know, there is no 

 other so persistently savage in captivity as this 

 bloody-minded game-killer. Of course, the Owl 

 is not to blame for the raw-meat appetite which 

 Nature gave him, and for which he feels bound 

 to provide; but there is no reason why he should 

 have a temper like a black leopard toward those 

 who feed him. 



"Of all the birds of prey, with the exception 

 possibly of the goshawk and Cooper's hawk," 

 says Dr. A. K. Fisher, "the Great Horned Owl 

 is the most destructive to poultry. All kinds 

 of poultry seem to be taken, though when Guinea- 

 fowls and turkeys are obtainable, it shows a 

 preference for these. In sections of the country 

 where it is common, the inhabitants complain 

 bitterly of its ravages." In the museum of the 

 Philadelphia Academy is an Owl which carried 

 off from one farm twenty-seven individuals of 

 various kinds of poultry before it was shot. 



1 Bu'bo virginianus. Length, from 20 to 24 inches. 



