102 The Screech Owl 



when stacked and in the shock, and to young fruit- 

 trees. The greatest damage to trees occurs in that 

 part of the owl's range where the snow is so deep 

 that it is impossible for the bird to reach the mice. 



To the field student of natural history there are 

 no tracks in the snow more common than those of the 

 short-tailed field mouse. They are particularly plen- 

 tiful about hedgerows, brush heaps, stone piles, 

 hay and grain stacks, and farm buildings, while the 

 orchard is one complete network of them. Some- 

 times in the morm'ng one may read on the soft 

 snow a chapter from Nature, written in her own 

 hand and better than anything ever found in 

 books. Let us study it together. The old orchard is 

 before us; many of the trees have long since passed 

 their commercial usefulness, but they should be spared, 

 for they are now the homes of our animal friends. 

 Time and the elements have dealt harshly with them, 

 and the boisterous wind has torn many a Kmb asunder; 

 here, for many years, the flickers have driUed their 

 homes, and the cavities in the old trees have grown 

 larger year by year. Toward one old tree, one-half 

 of which is tipped over until it touches the ground, 

 many mice tracks converge, — probably the seeds in 

 the apples beneath the snow are the attraction, or 

 perhaps some other dainty well liked by the mouse. 



