124 
THE LITTLE OR ACADIAN - OWL. 
the hole where the brood lay concealed, I might not have discovered them. 
In this instance the number was five. It was in the beginning of June, and 
the little things, which were almost ready to fly, looked exceedingly neat 
and beautiful. The Little Owl breeds more abundantly near the shores of 
the Atlantic than in the interior of the country, and is frequent in the 
swamps of the States of Maryland and New Jersey, during the whole year. 
Wherever I have found the young or the eggs placed in a hollow tree, they 
were merely deposited on the rotten particles of wood ; and when in an old 
Crow’s nest, the latter did not appear to have undergone any repair. 
This species evinces a strong and curious propensity to visit the interior 
of our cities. I have known some caught alive in the Philadelphia Museum, 
as well as in that of Baltimore ; and, whilst at Cincinnati, I had one brought 
to me which had been taken from the edge of a cradle, in which a child lay 
asleep, to the no small astonishment of the mother. 
Being quite nocturnal, it shews great uneasiness when disturbed by day, 
and flies off in a hurried uncertain manner, throwing itself into the first 
covert it meets with, where it is not difficult to catch it, provided the neces- 
sary caution and silence be used. Towards dusk it becomes full of animation, 
flies swiftly, gliding, as it were, over the grounds, like a little spectre, 
and pounces on small quadrupeds and birds with the quickness of thought. 
Its common cry at night resembles that of the European Scops Owl, but 
is more like the dull sounds of a whistle than that of Owls generally is. 
My friend Mr. T. MacCulloch, jun., has favoured me with the following- 
curious notice respecting this bird. “ In the beginning of April, when the 
snow was still lying in large patches in the woods, although it had entirely 
disappeared from the clear lands, I went out with my gun one afternoon, 
expecting to obtain some of the small birds which remove to the north on 
the first approach of spring. Having wandered about four miles from home 
without meeting with anything worthy of notice, I had almost determined 
to return, when my attention was arrested by a sound which at first seemed 
to me like the faint tones of a distant bell. The resemblance was so exceed: 
ingly strong that I believe the mistake would not have been detected, had 
not a slight variation in it induced me to listen more attentively, and mark 
the direction in which it seemed to come. With the view of ascertaining its 
origin if possible, I crossed an intervening farm, and striking into a dense 
spruce wood, directed my course towards the point from which it seemed to 
proceed. Whilst listening to the singular note, the accounts which I had 
seen of the Turdus \ tinmens or Bell-bird of the southern portion of the 
continent forcibly recurred to my mind, and rendered me doubly eager to 
discover its source. This, however, I found to be no easy matter. After 
proceeding a considerable distance in the woods the sound became suddenly 
