live tala acadlca 
Concord, Mass. 
1396. At about 3 P.M. I was returning from Davis's Hill when I 
Oct. 27. heard a number of small birds chirping and scolding loudly and 
continuously in a cluster of young pines near the bottom of 
the Glacial Hollow. Suspecting that they^mobbing an Owl I 
went at once to the spot and found five or six Chickadees, two 
Canada Nuthatches, several Juncos and Pox Sparrows hopping 
excitedly from twig to twig in the upper branches of a pitch 
pine. As usual in such cases they were moving in a circle and 
I had only to scrutinize the central space closely to discover 
the Owl, a pretty little Acadian sitting on a stout horizontal 
branch about eight feet from the main stem and some eighteen 
feet above the ground. He appeared quite indifferent to the 
movements and clamor of his persecutors but he kept his eyes 
fixed on me with some show of interest but without drawing in 
or displaying others signs of suspicion or alarm. The Chick- 
adees were the most noisy and aggressive of the little birds 
about him but none of them ventured to approach him nearer 
than to within six or eight feet. They called de-de-de-de 
incessantly. The Pox Sparrow clucked loudly. Two Red Squir- 
rels on the opposite side of the hollow added materially to 
the racket by a continuous loud snickering but I doubt if 
either of them really saw the Owl or knew what the excitement 
was all about. 
