Uyo tala acadica . 
Cambridge 
1898 . 
Feb . 7 . 
Mass . 
Clear, still and mild. 
Shortly after noon I took a walk about our garden on 
snow shoes. The sun-light, reflected from the deep, unbroken 
field of snow, was very dazzling. As I was passing near a 
young scarlet oak, still covered almost as densely with foli- 
age as in midsummer, I discovered an Acadian Owl perched near 
the extremity of a long, horozontal branch about nine feet a- 
bove the ground. How he chanced to attract my eye is a mystery 
for there were no small birds about to betray his presence 
and he was sitting perfectly motionless in the very middle of 
a cluster of tan-colored leaves which matched his plumage close- 
ly. When I returned with my camera an hour later he had not 
changed his perch nor even his attitude. I took a number of 
photographs some of which show his position and facial expres- 
sion better than I can describe them. Walter Deane and Gil- 
bert were with me and we all walked around and even beneath 
the tree without appearing to disturb the bird. He seemed to 
be very drowsy sitting, most of the time, on one leg with the 
other drawn up under his feathers and his eyes nearly closed 
although a sudden movement on the part of one of us would oc- 
casionally cause him to open his eyes wide for a moment. He 
was sensitive to certain sounds but paid no attention to our 
voices. 
