1892.
Dec. 29
(NO.2)
Mass.
Concord. -  alighting on humps of frozen earth and had settled in 
the elm only a few minutes before we emerged from the woods. I
now climbed over the wall and advanced slowly down the slope to-
ward the elm. At first the Owl did not seem to notice me but
when I came to some snow and  my foot-steps produced a slight
crunching sound the bird instantly turned its head towards me
and half opened its wings. I stopped and we stared at each
other for a minute or more, the Owl without blinking, his eyes
appearing perfectly round and black, his beak of a bright green-
ish yellow, his plumage everywhere of a faded or grayish brown
with profuse and very conspicuous whitish bars and spots. When
he turned to face me a twig penetrated the plumage of his back
and springing upward raised a bunch of the scapulars considera-
bly above the surrounding feathers giving him a ludicrously
ragged appearance. Indeed there was nothing firm nor graceful
in his pose or  outline. The facial disc, as with most 
Owls, was very conspicuous.
[margin]Barred Owl[/margin]
  After a little I tried to creep nearer but at the very first
step the bird spread his broad wings and flapping them quickly
and continuously ten or a dozen times just after leaving his
perch gained sufficient impetus to glide a hundred yards or more
further before alighting again. His course, during this flight
was at first directly towards the woods but on entering them he
turned to the right and, scaling only a few feet above the
ground, passed through a belt of densely growing maples and