LU,tsn CLc-V-J ,. s' 
Maine 
L. Umbagog 
September 23d . One v/as shot this evening shortly after 
sunset by Mr. Spellman v/ha,at the time,,was lying in wait for ducks 
at Moose Point. The Owl flew about over the marsh for several 
minutes before coming within shot. He dove down a number of times 
over th ( e spot where a flock of Black Ducks were feeding, plung¬ 
ing quite to the top of the grass and uttering loud cries. The 
Pucks werecapparently very much frightened, quacked and made a 
loud splashat each descent of the Owl. Hr. Spellman could not 
see them, but believes that they dove. On the previous evening 
while in the same marshl heard,after it had become too dark to 
see anything distinctly, a loud,nasal cry, something like that of 
the Great-Blue Heron, repeated every few second for a minute or 
two. At each repetition of this cry, I could hear some Black 
Pucks which I had previously seen alight near me quack and 
splash the water loudly as if they were frightened and were try¬ 
ing to escape from some bird of prey by diving. At the time I 
felt confident tha t an Owl of some species v/as harassing them, 
and, afterwards , upon describing the note to Mr. Spellman, he 
said that he had no doubt it has made by the same bird, which he 
shot the following eeeening. His impression is that thjLj Owl was 
not seriously attempting to catch any of the Ducks, but^merely 
frighten©*Hthem for the fun of the thing. He described its flight 
over the marsh as similiar to that of W&f Night Hawk, light, easy 
and gliding. It v/as very tame indeed, for he missed two shots at 
it before killing it.«~«llt returned each time a few minutes after¬ 
wards. 
I 
