5
1898
Feb. 13
(No 2)
Cambridge, Mass.
[margin]notes on
a captive
Saw-whet.[/margin]
range (the cage is about 15 feet from my desk) the
sound has little or no metallic quality and bears
only the most remote resemblance to saw filing. On
the contrary it may be best described as a soft & low
but rather throaty whistle very like that of
Glaucidium. It also suggests the peep of Hyla pickeringii
but is much less clear & bell-like and is on a lower
key. It is given very rapidly and evenly as a
rule & the number of repeititions is very variable.
Twice or thrice I have heard a prolonged, monosyllabic
note more metallic in quality than the ordinary call - 
but otherwise similar.
[margin]Feb. 14, 1898[/margin]
  The Saw-whet was unusually active this morning
and during the forenoon kept flying from perch to 
perch but it did not appear to be in the least
frightened or unhappy. At about 11 A.M. it
"whetted" twice, but briefly and in subdued tones.
  At 3 P.M. I found it crouched on the bottom of the
cage evidently very ill. Someone suggested that a 
smell of fresh paint, which pervaded the museum at
the time, might be the cause. We accordingly took
the bird out of doors but it expired only a few
minutes later. Its death struggle was as violent
as that of a bird that had been shot. It fluttered
half across the cage and at the last beat the floor
vigorously with its wings. On dissecting it I failed
to detect any signs of internal injury or disease.
The stomach was empty but the bird was not
emaciated. It was a male with testes as large
as #1 shot.
[margin]Death of
the Saw-whet[/margin]