The Food of tlm Owls. 23 
more and more fierce as his courage rises. Finally, after assuring 
him that he is a brave fellow, and no coward, to go for it, etc., he 
makes the attack. And now his whole nature suddenly changes, 
and instead of a hesitating bully he more nearly resembles a raging 
It is said that the tiny Downy Woodpecker more nearly resem- 
bles the great Ivory-billed than does any other of the many specit^s 
of the family Picidae. 
The same may be said of the Little Screech and the Great-horned 
Owl, the little Scops being a tiny image in action and appearance 
of its great relative, from whom it probably evoluted. 
In the spring and summer of 1887, at the request of Dr. R. W. 
Shufeldt, U. S. A., I was making a collection of nestlings of repre- 
sentative American birds, that was to be sent to Prof. Parker, of 
London, to be utilized by him in his great work on "Avian Osteol- 
ogy." Among the many birds brought to me by my hoy collectors 
was a family of four young Screech Owls. Downy little fellows, all 
beak, claws, and eyes. Wishing to use but one of them as an alco- 
holic specimen, I was at a loss what to do with the others, as the 
nest from which they were taken was on a creek five miles away. I 
finally concluded to adopt them, and a family of kittens, which they 
resembled in many respects, would not have proved more interesting 
and trusting pets. 
From first to last small fish was their main diet, and it was amus- 
ing, indeed, when their food was brought, to see the downy little fel- 
lows rush and tumble over each other in their eagerness to get at it. 
If a mouse was given to them it would first be put through a 
bone-breaking process and then swallowed. Small birds would be 
thoroughly picked and then swallowed head first. 
After they became able to fly about, they were taken from the box 
in which they had been kept and put into the apple trees growing 
in my yard to shift for themselves. But they refused to shift ; on 
tlie contrary, seemed to consider themselves as a part of the family, 
and for weeks remained about the yard, and in the dusk of the 
evening would come at once on being called, sometimes from the 
mill a hundred yards away, or from the trees across the river. 
A very interesting feature connected with these little Scops was 
the manner in which they were treated by the other birds of the- 
vicinity. About once a day the birds would assemble to harass and 
scold them, the usual time being a little before sundown. At a 
signal, generally from the Robin, they would come from all direc- 
