Horned and Hoot Owls 



credited with great cleverness, and modern ornithologists con- 

 sider that Minerva made a mistake when she chose the owl to 

 typify that wisdom for which she was revered. 



Saw-Whet Owl 



(Nyctala acadia) 



Called also: ACADIAN OWL 



Length~i. 50 to 8 inches ; smallest of the eastern owls. 



Male and Female — Upper parts dark reddish brown, the head 

 streaked, the back and wings spotted with light brown and 

 white ; under parts white, heavily streaked with dark rusty 

 brown ; tail with three or four broken white bars ; facial disk 

 almost white, but blackened around the yellow eyes; legs 

 buff feathered ; no ear tufts ; bill and claws dark. 



Range — North America at large, nesting from the middle states 

 northward, and in western mountainous regions south to 

 Mexico. 



Season — Chiefly a winter visitor in middle states ; locally a per- 

 manent resident. 



Birds that prey on skulking mice must needs be night 

 prowlers; but the theory has been seriously advanced that those 

 owls which remain in sleepy seclusion all day, like the little saw- 

 whet owl, are those that have suffered endless persecution from 

 other birds whenever they ventured abroad in the sunlight, which 

 is the reason they choose to hunt when others sleep — an interest- 

 ing theory, if nothing more. Nocturnal birds are naturally 

 counted rarities, even where they are not. This little owl, by no 

 means uncommon, is a very sound sleeper, and makes no sign 

 of its existence, though one may be passing beneath its perch. 

 So sunk in oblivion is it, and so heavy-eyed with sleep when 

 roused, that many specimens may be taken with the hand. 

 Hence the expression, "As stupid as an owl." Because it is 

 small enough to crowd on a woman's hat, this is a little victim 

 commonly worn, sometimes with wings and tail outspread, or 

 again with only its head, like a Cheshire cat's, appearing in a 

 cloud of trimming. A woman who loudly applauded Dr. Van 

 Dyke's famous epigram, "A bird in the bush is worth two in the 

 hat," at an Audubon Society's meeting held in the Museum of 



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