134 
THE BARRED OWL. 
zig-zag lines. This being so uncommon an occurrence, I noted it down at 
the time. I felt anxious to see the bird return towards the earth, but it 
did not make its appearance again. So very lightly do they fly, that I 
have frequently discovered one passing over me, and only a few yards dis- 
tant, by first seeing its shadow on the ground, during clear moon-light 
nights, when not the faintest rustling of its wings could be heard. 
Their power of sight during the day seems to be rather of an equivocal 
character, as I once saw one alight on the back of. a cow, which it left so 
suddenly afterwards, when the cow moved, as to prove to me that it had 
mistaken the object on which it had perched for something else. At other 
times, I have observed that the approach of the grey squirrel intimidated 
them, if one of these animals accidentally jumped on a branch close to them, 
although the Owl destroys a number of thenrduring the twilight. 
The Barred Owl is a great destroyer of poultry, particularly of chickens 
when half-grown. It also secures mice, young hares, rabbits, and many 
species of small birds, but is especially fond of a kind of frog of a brown 
colour, very common in the woods of Louisiana. I have heard it asserted 
that this bird catches fish, but never having seen it do so, and never having 
found any portion of fish in its stomach, I cannot vouch for the truth of 
the report. 
About the middle of March, these Owls begin to lay their eggs. This 
they usually do in the hollows of trees, on the dust of the decomposed wood. 
At other time's they take possession of the old nest of a Crow or a Red-tailed 
Hawk. In all these situations I have found their eggs and young. The 
eggs are of a globular form, pure white, with a smooth shell, and are from 
four to six in number. So far as I have been able to ascertain, they rear 
only one brood in a season. The young, like those of all other Owls, are 
at first covered with a downy substance, some of which is seen intermixed 
with and protruding from the feathers, some weeks after the bird is nearly 
fledged. They are fed by the parents for a long time, standing perched, 
and emitting a hissing noise in lieu of a call. This noise may be heard in 
a calrii night, for fifty or probably a hundred yards, and is by no means 
musical. To a person lost in a swamp, it is, indeed, extremely dismal. 
The plumage of the Barred Owl differs very considerably, in respect to 
colour, in , different individuals, more especially among the males. The 
males are also smaller than the females, but less so than in some other species. 
During fhe severe winters of our Middle Districts, those that remain there 
suffer very much ; but the greater number remove to the Southern States. 
When kept in captivity, they prove excellent mousers. 
The antipathy shewn to Owls by every species of day bird is extreme. 
They are followed and pursued on all occasions ; and although few of the 
