134 THE BARRED OWL. 



zig-zag lines. This being so uncommon an occurrence, I noted it down at 

 the time. I felt anxious to see the bird return towards the earth, but it did 

 not make its appearance again. So very lightly do they fly, that I have 

 frequently discovered one passing over me, and only a few yards distant, by 

 first seeing its shadow on the ground, during clear moon-light nights, when 

 not the faintest rustling of its wings could be heard. 



Their power of sight during the day seems to be rather of an equivocal 

 character, as I once saw one alight on the back of a cow, which it left so 

 suddenly afterwards, when the cow moved, as to prove to me that it had 

 mistaken the object on which it had perched for something else. At other 

 times, I have observed that the approach of the grey squirrel intimidated 

 them, if one of these animals accidentally jumped on a branch close to them, 

 although the Owl destroys a number of them during the twilight. 



The Barred Owl is a great destroyer of poultry, particularly of chickens 

 when half-grown. It also secures mice, young hares, rabbits, and many 

 species of small birds, but is especially fond of a kind of frog of a brown 

 colour, very common in the woods of Louisiana. I have heard it asserted 

 that this bird catches fish, but never having seen it do so, and never having 

 found any portion of fish in its stomach, I cannot vouch for the truth of the 

 report. 



About the middle of March, these Owls begin to lay their eggs. This 

 they usually do in the hollows of trees, on the dust of the decomposed wood. 

 At other times they take possession of the old nest of a Crow or a Red-tailed 

 Hawk. In all these situations I have found their eggs and young. The 

 eggs are of a globular form, pure white, with a smooth shell, and are from 

 four to six in number. So far as I have been able to ascertain, they rear 

 only one brood in a season. The young, like those of all other Owls, are at 

 first covered with a downy substance, some of which is seen intermixed 

 with and protruding from the feathers, some weeks after the bird is nearly 

 fledged. They are fed by the parents for a long time, standing perched, and 

 emitting a hissing noise in lieu of a call. This noise may be heard in a calm 

 night, for fifty or probably a hundred yards, and is by no means musical. 

 To a person lost in a swamp, it is, indeed, extremely dismal. 



The plumage of the Barred Owl differs very considerably, in respect to 

 colour, in different individuals, more especially among the males. The 

 males are also smaller than the females, but less so than in some other species. 

 During the severe winters of our Middle Districts, those that remain there 

 suffer very much; but the greater number remove to the Southern States. 

 When kept in captivity, they prove excellent mousers. 



The antipathy shewn to Owls by every species of day bird is extreme. 

 They are followed and pursued on all occasions; and although few of the 



