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The Screech Owl 
T. Gilbert Pearson, Secretary of the National Association, has 
described the nesting-habits of this little owl as follows : 
I 
The Screech Owl can hardly be taken as a model housekeeper. Most i 
wild birds in our country are exceedingly cleanly about their nests, but 9 
such is not always the case with this common little owl. This fact is not 
noticeable in every instance, as there exists much individual variation, just 
as there does among human housekeepers, but I have frequently examined 
nests that were filthy in the extreme. All owls lay white eggs, as, in fact, 
do woodpeckers, swifts, and many other birds, the eggs of which are 
hidden in dark places where there is no need for concealing coloration 
to render them inconspicuous when prowling egg-eaters are abroad. 
Nature here seems to show a marked evidence of economy by not wasting 
any of her coloring matter. Three to five eggs are laid rather early in the 
spring, and are jealously guarded by their owners. 
Screech Owls gather no nesting-materials whatever. When the time ; 
arrives to deposit her eggs, the female simply goes to some hole she has 
found in a dead tree or stub, and takes possession of it just as she finds it. 
A nesting-excavation dug in a dead tree by a Flicker suits her purposes 
admirably. Natural cavities in shade-trees or old apple-trees also afford 
tempting nesting-sites. After the eggs are deposited one or the other 
of the birds is pretty sure to be at home at any hour of the day which 
Nesting you 111 a y choose to call. The bird will sit close, and, | 
Place as a ru ^ e ’ no am o u nt of pounding on the tree will 
cause it to fly out, or even give you the satisfaction 
of seeing its face at the entrance-hole. 
Should the intruder be so rude as to climb the tree and attempt to I 
extract the bird from its nest, I warn him to be on his guard. At the first 
indication of real danger the owl is very likely to turn on its back, pre- 
senting its beak and eight exceedingly sharp claws, which it has , no 
hesitancy in sinking deep into one’s fingers as they reach downward. 
The home of a family of Screech Owls may often be discovered by 
the pellets of indigestible parts of the food (bones, feathers and the like) 
disgorged after each meal. Such deposits have often been examined, 
and they yield the same sort of testimony of the utility of the bird as 
a mouser and insect-eater as do the contents of the stomachs. 
Classification and Distribution 
The Screech Owl belongs to the Order Rapt ores, the Suborder Striges, and 
the Family Strigidce. The scientific name of the common eastern form is Otus ' 
asio asio. In its various climatic forms (nine subspecies) the Screech Owl occurs j 
over much of temperate North America, extending from southern British Columbia 
to northern Mexico. 
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