52 



RECREATION. 



The commoner species are the screech, the 

 Acadian, or saw- whet, and the long eared. 

 They are seldom seen in the daytime, ex- 

 cept when startled from some secluded 

 spot they have chosen, either in thick 

 brush or in a hollow tree. 



The barred owl, Syrnium nebulosum, is 

 the commonest of the large species. He 

 can be distinguished from the great horned 

 owl by the absence of eartufts, and his 

 lighter color, being almost gray, while 

 the latter is a dark brown. There is a 

 great difference in their dispositions, how- 

 ever. The great horned owl is the most de- 

 structive of the raptores, eclipsing even the 

 Cooper hawk, while the barred is harmless. 

 The great horned owl eats poultry, all 

 kinds of birds, rabbits, skunks, squirrels, 

 and even members of his own family. He 

 is a good fisher and does much damage to 

 the trout ponds and brooks. The wily 

 ruffed grouse falls a victim to his vora- 

 cious appetite, and a turkey or a wood- 

 chuck is none too large for him. I 

 am glad he is becoming rare in this sec- 

 tion. In the past 3 years I have not seen 

 more than 7 or 8. A great deal can be 

 done for game protection by killing this 

 pest and the Cooper hawk, leaving the 

 other species to increase and help out the 

 work of destroying red squirrels and 

 snakes. This will save annually thousands 

 of dollars for the farmers, by ridding the 

 fields of mice, grasshoppers, etc. 



I hope no reader of Recreation cares 

 to shed innocent blood. The next time a 

 hawk or an owl comes within gunshot 

 notice whether or not it is on the black 

 list, before shooting. I would feel more 

 justified in killing a dozen robins, or blue- 

 birds, or mocking-birds than one hawk. 



Lorenzo Blackstone, Norwich, Conn. 



CEDAR BIRDS AND SAPSUCKERS BENE- 

 FICIAL. 



For the benefit of D. C. Clark, of Maine, 

 who writes in September Recreation, I 

 wish to say that here in Connecticut, also, 

 robins may be seen the year round, though 

 there are few in winter, and they are rarely 

 seen near the habitation of man. They 

 hide in the dense pine groves for protec- 

 tion from the cold, and may be seen on 

 warm, sunshiny days, sunning on the South 

 side. They are shy during the winter and 

 keep well under cover. 



I wish also to extend a hand of congrat- 

 ulation to David Pratt, also of Maine, for 

 his reformation. I hope he will do all 

 he can to preserve the dear little birds that 

 do so much good by destroying insects and 

 lightening many burdens by their songs 

 and beautiful ways. 



When I was spending a vacation in Mas- 

 sachusetts in t8o8 a farmer brought to me 

 a cedar bird and three sapsuckers that he 



had shot, saying: "They do us a great 

 deal of harm and we never knew them to 

 eat an insect of any kind." I disagreed, 

 and on opening the stomachs found in the 

 cedar birds a few berry seeds, part of a 

 large spider, and wings and legs of many 

 bugs. The sapsuckers' stomachs contained 

 great numbers of ants, bugs and insects in 

 /arious stages of digestion. The farmer 

 was much surprised. He is but one of 

 many who are entirely ignorant of the 

 great amount of good that is done by the 

 birds. I am glad Recreation lends a 

 helping hand for the protection of the dear 

 little song birds. 



W. G. Taylor, Derby, Conn. 



A PECULIARITY OF COOTS 

 I have noticed one thing in coot shoot- 

 ing that has never been satisfactorily ex- 

 plained to me. In shooting them at the 

 head of Buzzard's bay, from boats, as they 

 come flying overhead, if a shrill whistle is 

 given they will instantly change their 

 course, some of them dipping nearly to the 

 water. I have often thought some of them 

 were coming into the boat. If they are out 

 of range they can often be brought 

 within reach in this manner. Years ago 

 this whistling used to be done through 

 the fingers. Now most of the gunners use 

 what is called the Deviline whistle. It 

 makes noise enough to waken the dead. It 

 is amusing to watch a flock of coot when 

 the shrill note of the whistle breaks on 

 the ear. They drop swiftly down and the 

 flock breaks up as if struck by lightning. 

 Once in a while, however, a flock pays no 

 attention to the whistling. Why do they 

 thus change their course? I have heard it 

 said they perhaps mistook the sound for 

 the cry of an eagle and so started down to 

 the water for safety. How true this is I 

 do not know, but I have repeatedly seen 

 the sudden breaking up of a flock. Some- 

 times they separate, sometimes they bunch, 

 but they always drop several yards, and if 

 the whistling is done at the proper moment 

 they always come nearer the boat. Per- 

 haps so e reader of Recreation can give 

 an explanation. 



Allen D. Hammond. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



A few days ago a friend told me of the 

 strange performance of a hawk with a live 

 rabbit. He flew up about 30 feet with it 

 and then dropped it, catching it again. 

 This he did several times. Probably he was 

 mellowing it, to make it easier to eat. 



Another friend told of a rabbit that knew 

 how to make use of a barbed wire fence. 

 A hawk was chasing him and he ran under 

 the fence. The hawk made a dash at him 

 and he dodged to the other side of the 



