36 



THE SCREECH OWL. 



THE SCREECH OWL. 



After a few days the weather grew intensely cold, the 

 thermometer running ten degrees below zero. Making a 

 professional visit on one of these bitter days, as I drove 



THE SCREECH OWL. 



into the barn-yard to unharness my horse, I noticed the 

 result of quite a little tragedy in the animal kingdom. 

 Some fifteen feet up the side of the barn hung a Screech 

 Owl {Scops asio), caught by one foot under a large batten 

 partly sprung off from the building. It was frozen stiff, its 

 eyes standing out white and ghastly with the expansion of 

 the frost; and just above it, seemingly caught under the 

 same batten, and frozen in like manner, was a common 



