124 THE LITTLE OR ACADIAN OWL. 



the hole where the brood lay concealed, I might not have discovered them. 

 In this instance the number was five. It was in the beginning of June, and 

 the little things, which were almost ready to fly, looked exceedingly neat 

 and beautiful. The Little Owl breeds more abundantly near the shores of 

 the Atlantic than in the interior of the country, and is frequent in the 

 swamps of the States of Maryland and New Jersey, during the whole year. 

 Wherever I have found the young or the eggs placed in a hollow tree, they 

 were merely deposited on the rotten particles of wood; and when in an old 

 Crow's nest, the latter did not appear to have undergone any repair. 



This species evinces a strong and curious propensity to visit the interior 

 of our cities. I have known some caught alive in the Philadelphia Museum, 

 as well as in that of Baltimore; and, whilst at Cincinnati, I had one brought 

 to me which had been taken from the edge of a cradle, in which a child lay 

 asleep, to the no small astonishment of the mother. 



Being quite nocturnal, it shews great uneasiness when disturbed by day, 

 and flies off" in a hurried uncertain manner, throwing itself into the first 

 covert it meets with, where it is not difficult to catch it, provided the neces- 

 sary caution and silence be used. Towards dusk it becomes full of animation, 

 flies swiftly, gliding, as it were, over the low grounds, like a little spectre, 

 and pounces on small quadrupeds and birds with the quickness of thought. 

 Its common cry at night resembles that of the European Scops Owl, but is 

 more like the dull sounds of a whistle than that of Owls generally is. 



My friend Mr. T. MacCulloch, jun., has favoured me with the following 

 curious notice respecting this bird. "In the beginning of April, when the 

 snow was still lying in large patches in the woods, although it had entirely 

 disappeared from the clear lands, I went out with my gun one afternoon, 

 expecting to obtain some of the small birds which remove to the north on 

 the first approach of spring. Having wandered about four miles from home 

 witbout meeting with any thing worthy of notice, I had almost determined 

 to return, when my attention was arrested by a sound which at first seemed 

 to me like the faint tones of a distant bell. The resemblance was so exceed- 

 ingly strong that I believe the mistake would not have been detected, had 

 not a slight variation in it induced me to listen more attentively, and mark 

 the direction in which it seemed to come. With the view of ascertaining its 

 origin if possible, I crossed an intervening farm, and striking into a dense 

 spruce wood, directed my course towards the point from which it seemed to 

 proceed. While listening to the singular note, the accounts which I had 

 seen of the Tardus iinniens or Bell Bird of the southern portion of the 

 continent forcibly recurred to my mind, and rendered me doubly eager to 

 discover its source. This, however, I found to be no easy matter. After 

 proceeding a considerable distance in the woods the sound became suddenly 



