STRIX ASIO* 
RED OWL. 
[Plate XLII. — Fig. 1, Female.] 
Little OwL Catesb. i, 7. — Lath, i, 123. — LiNN.Syst. 132. — ^rct. 
Zool. 11, JSTo. 117. — Turt. Syst. i, p. 166. — Peai.e’s Museum, 
Xo. 428. 
This is another of our nocturnal wanderers, well known by 
its common name, the Little Screech Owl; and noted for its 
melancholy quivering kind of wailing in the evenings, particu- 
larly towards the latter part of summer and autumn, near the 
farm-house. On clear moonlight nights, they answer each other 
from various parts of the fields or orchard; roost during the 
day in thick evergreens, such as cedar, pine, or juniper trees, 
and are rarely seen abroad in sunshine. In May they construct 
their nest in the hollow of a tree, often in the orchard, in an 
old apple-tree; the nest is composed of some hay and a few 
feathers; the eggs are four, pure white and nearly round. The 
5 mung are at first covered with a whitish down. 
The bird represented in the plate, I kept for several weeks 
in the room beside me. It was caught in a barn, where it had 
taken up its lodging, probably for the greater convenience of 
mousing; and being unhurt, I had an opportunity of remarking 
its manners. At first it struck itself so forcibly against the win- 
dow, as frequently to deprive it, seemingly, of all sensation 
for several minutes; this was done so repeatedly, that I began 
to fear that either the glass, or the Owl’s skull, must give way. 
In a few days, however, it either began to comprehend some- 
thing of the matter, or to take disgust at the glass, for it never 
repeated its attempts; and soon became quite tame and familiar. 
This is the young' bird. 
