The Screech Owls 



are laid upon the rotten wood or chippings left by the last occupant. 

 The female is a very close sitter, requiring to be lifted from the eggs, if 

 incubation has progressed; while the male, when not actually sharing the 

 nesting cavity with his mate, is usually to be found in some nearby 

 cranny. 



Mr. Benjamin F. Gault tells an amusing instance 1 of the Otine 

 reluctance at leaving a happy home. The narrator had found in an old 

 Flicker hole near Riverside, Illinois, a Screech Owl with four young. 

 "The mother bird appeared dazed when brought to the light, and singu- 

 larly enough in taking 

 her from the nest the 

 entire brood was also re- 

 moved at the same time, 

 she having instinctively 

 grasped one of the 

 young, that one another 

 and so on until they all 

 became attached, and 

 they certainly presented 

 a ludicrous sight as they 

 came dangling out of the 

 hole, each retaining a 

 firm hold of the other; 

 but the youngsters 

 finally dropped off and 

 tumbled to the ground." 

 Incubation lasts 

 about three weeks, and 

 the young are blind 

 when hatched. They 

 are covered with a thick 

 white down, like chick- 

 ens; and like chickens, 

 they will peep lustily if 

 disturbed. Of course 

 they are voracious eaters 

 and so importunate in 

 their demands, that the 

 hard-working parents 

 are required to lay up a 



Taken in Oregon Photo by A. W. Anthony 



MACFARLANE SCREECH OWL 



1 Quoted by Bendire. Life His- 

 tories, Vol. I., p. 362. 



IIO/ 



