OWLS 153 



and about gardens and farmyards. The eggs, usually 3- or 4 

 in number, are deposited in hollow trees or old stubs. Its 

 notes, uttered chiefly at night, consist of a tremulous, mourn- 

 ful, whistle, considered by ignorant people to portend disaster 

 or death. When disturbed in its roosting places, the bird 

 utters a hissing noise and snaps its bill with a rattling sound, 

 but does not attempt to bite. 



Food habits. — The food habits of the screech owl show it 

 to be in the main a beneficial species. It eats more insects 

 than most other owls, and destroys also large numbers of 

 mice. In addition, it takes crawfish, frogs, toads, lizards, and 

 fish. Wild birds were found in about 15 per cent of the stom- 

 achs examined by Dr. Fisher, but of these a large proportion 

 were English sparrows. The native sparrows are sometimes 

 taken, and occasionally birds as large as the owl itself, such 

 as a quail or woodcock. 



SCREECH OWL: Otus asio naevius (Gmelin).t 



State records. — The northern race of the screech owl is not 

 known to breed in Alabama and its inclusion in the list is on 

 the evidence of a specimen in the Avery collection, taken at 

 Greensboro, January 18, 1891. As the breeding form there is 

 asio, this bird must have wandered from farther north. The 

 species however is not regularly migratory. 



GREAT HORNED OWL: Bubo virginianus virginianus 



(Gmelin). 



State records. — The great horned owl is a fairly common 

 resident in all sections of the State. It is reported tolerably 

 common at Leighton by McCormack, rare at Greensboro by 

 Avery, common at Autaugaville by Golsan, and tolerably com- 

 mon on Sand Mountain by Graves. Gutsell took a specimen, 

 September 15, 1911, at Orange Beach, and I saw a pair in the 

 pine woods at Bayou Labatre, February 15, 1912. The species 

 has been observed also, at Melville, Teasley Mill (Montgomery 

 County), and Stiggins Lake (Baldwin County). In Buck 



tOtus asio asio of the A. O. U. Check-list ; for change of name see The Auk, vol. 34, 

 p. 201, 1917. 



