SCREECH OWL 



231 



heavily forested regions of the north. It is the only owl 

 which remains in the towns and villages, the only one 

 whose voice is regularly heard away from deep woods. Its 

 notes are a frequent accom- 

 paniment of winter twilights, 

 and though more often heard 

 in autumn and winter, they 

 are uttered occasionally at 

 every season. The name, bor- 

 rowed from Europe, is not ap- 

 propriate to our species. The 

 cry is tremulous, quavering, 

 suggesting the soft whinny- 

 ing of a horse, or the rapid 

 and muffled beating of wings. 

 Sometimes the little owl is seen sitting on a branch of the 

 tree in the gathering dusk, but as a rule it keeps concealed 

 during the day in thick evergreens, or more often in the 

 hollow of a tree. The presence under a tree of gray pellets 

 of mouse-fur, inclosing skull and bones, is evidence that an 

 owl either inhabits or has inhabited the tree. Sometimes 

 an excited scolding and fluttering of Chickadees about a 

 hole in an apple-tree betrays the little recluse. The ear- 

 tufts distinguish it from the much rarer Acadian, our only 

 other small owl ; its small size should easily distinguish it 

 from the other owls. (See also Long-eared Owl, p. 233.) 



Fio. 71. Screech Qwl 



Cryptoglaux acadica 



Saw-whet Owl ; Acadian Owl. 



8.00 



Ad. — Upper parts brown, more or less spotted with white , 

 under parts white, striped with brown; wing, when spread, crossed 

 with several rows of white spots; no ear-tufts. Im. — Upper parts 

 plain brown; under parts brownish, fading on the belly into yel- 

 lowish-brown. 



Nest, in holes in trees, often in a deserted woodpecker's hole. 

 Eggs, white. 



